Part 2 - Pages 26 to 53

I’ve come to Brazil with
Rev. Jesse Jackson, SEIU
(Service Employees International Union) Vice-President Dennis Rivera, and
AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) International Affairs Assistant Director Stan
Gacek, to meet with the labor, church and community
groups that are serving as
the building blocks of
Brazil’s “bottom up”
change, and now to watch
the last big pre-election rally
of the Workers Party (PT).
The open field is filled
with a sea of flags. Onehundred-fifty thousand
Workers Party faithful, an
incredible human rainbow,
sing and cheer and chant for
Lula. That’s Luiz Inácio
“Lula” da Silva, former head
of the famous São Bernardo
Metalworkers Union, fourtime presidential candidate,
and currently the frontrunner
to become Brazil’s next
president. The Democratic
National Convention is nothing like this.
One of the dozens of
rousing speeches comes
from Marta Suplicy, a Workers
Party star, the female mayor of
São Paulo, the third-largest city in
the world. Just that morning, in a
meeting with Jackson, she told
him that fully 13 percent of her
city’s budget, off the top, goes to
service old debt.
The PT faithful, who speak
Portuguese, then sing along with
Suplicy’s ex-husband (and still
friend), a long-time senator, as he
launches into a full chorus of
Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind”—
in English! (To make this family
even more interesting, their son is
a popular punk rocker named
Supla.)
The first slave was brought to
Brazil’s shores in 1532, a full 87
years prior to the 1619 date when
the slave trade reached Jamestown.
Today there is a growing consciousness of the gaps between
the 45 percent of Brazil that is
Afro-Brazilian, and the Brazilian
elites, even in this incredibly multicultural society.
26
Democracy
101
Brazilians are really not too
impressed with the free trade
experiment. They want a change.
No doubt Bush, as an expert on
democratic elections, will soon
be lecturing Lula about
appropriate behavior for a leader
of a modern nation-state.
STEVE COBBLE
A high point comes at
a
meeting
with
“evangelicals” (which in
heavily Catholic Brazil
means Protestants in general, rather than Pat
Robertson and Jerry
Falwell types). Jackson
talks about Lula’s
struggles on behalf of
Brazil’s 60 percent poor,
his refusal to give up after
defeat, his dedication to
change and his commitment to nonviolent reform
using the ballot box.
I was fortunate enough
to have been in South Africa in the early 1990s. I
was invited by the African
National Congress (ANC)
to conduct get-out-thevote workshops in several
cities, at a time when
Mandela was out of jail,
but prior to his election as
President. Jackson and I
talked about the “special
spirit” in the air in Brazil,
so similar to the feeling
one got in South Africa a
decade ago. A tangible
spirit among the people,
of hope and change and
optimism. Brazil’s time
has come.
Now it’s October 6. I’m back in the
U.S., but it’s election day in Brazil. A
huge day in the history of this hemisphere. Brazil is pretty good at voting.
The Brazilians could teach us a lot.
They have multiple parties, free TV
time, voting with party symbols, and
they vote on Sundays. Much of the
voting takes place in schools, but they
use every classroom, not just the gym;
and different neighborhoods vote in
separate classrooms, which speeds up
the process considerably.
Brazil also has “mandatory” voting, which means that turnout is high.
In 2000, 280 million Americans cast
about 105 million votes. In 2002, 175
million Brazilians cast 94 million votes.
In a country with more than 100 million
fewer people, and in a serious multipleparty race (the fourth-place finisher
gets more than 10 million votes), Lula
carries 25 out of 28 states, takes more
than 46 percent nationwide and collects 39 million votes, almost as many
as George W. Bush got.
And they seem to have counted
them all.
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
It’s the day after the election. Lula
has won a smashing first-round victory,
the biggest victory for a lefty since
Mandela. His 46 percent is twice that of
José Serra, the candidate of the current
administration, who finishes second. In
addition, the 30 percent of the vote that
goes to the third and fourth place candidates is mostly to the left of Serra, who is
tarred by the economic failures of the
current government.
Now it’s a week later, and a secondround poll is out. Lula has maintained his
2-1 lead, but has increased his percentage to 66.5 percent. This has the makings
of a blowout. Perhaps that will make it
clear to U.S. foreign policy elites that
Brazilians are really not too impressed
with the free trade experiment. They want
a change—and it’s looking more and
more like much of Latin America wants
one, too.
Given that Lula strongly opposes the
Free Trade for the Americas agreement,
got his start as a militant union leader,
and champions “Brazilian dignity” as his
alternative to U.S. dominance in the hemisphere, the Bush Administration has been
surprisingly quiet with regard to the pending change in Brazil.
No doubt Karl Rove could see the
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
handwriting on the wall that the current
administration was doomed to defeat.
Perhaps the forces of reaction were also
hemmed in by their overreaching in Venezuela earlier this year, where they got
caught on the wrong side of a failed coup.
Or most likely, everyone in Washington
is just distracted by the current “wag the
dog” diversion on Iraq.
In any case, the silence is unlikely to
last long. No doubt W, as an expert on
democratic elections, will soon be lecturing Lula publicly about appropriate behavior for a leader of a modern nationstate. (Best recent example—Gerhard
Schroeder, publicly berated by U.S. officials for having the nerve to win reelection by campaigning against our war
with Iraq.)
If there is one area where Lula knows
he has the full support of the Brazilian
people, however, it is in renegotiating the
rules of free trade in the hemisphere.
There is room for compromises, but neither W nor his Wall Street buddies are
going to like them, since they involve
labor rights, environmental protections
and ending a lot of U.S. subsidies for
agriculture. And a big victory for Lula
should strengthen the hand of the AFLCIO, and the anti-globalization move-
ment here at home.
Of course, we don’t have to argue
with Brazil. We could surprise everyone
and embark on a new relationship with
the South. We could begin a partnership
with Brazil, aimed at bridging the rich/
poor gap, bridging the North/South gap,
and investing in a stable, growing democracy. We could, for instance, agree
to invest in sewers for the two-fifths of
the Brazilian population that currently
goes without. We could send our doctors
and scientists to meet with the Brazilians
and the Cubans to try to figure out a cure
for dengue fever. Either one would cost
a lot less—and do a lot more good—than
invading and occupying Iraq for a generation.
And who knows? Maybe Brazil
would send observers to Florida in 2004,
to help monitor our vote count.
Steve Cobble is a fellow associate at
the Institute for Policy Studies. He is
also the former Political Director of the
National Rainbow Coalition, a
speechwriter for Rev. Jesse Jackson,
and served as an advisor to Ralph Nader
in his 2000 campaign. He can be reached
at [email protected]
27
Long
Will Live
Free
Markets
Why did many Brazilian
businesspeople desert Serra and
back Lula? They believe that
someone from the Left can better
tackle the major problems facing
Brazil without throwing out the
progress reached in the ’90s.
GARY S. BECKER
28
The large plurality of votes received
by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, popularly
called Lula, in the first round of Brazil’s
presidential election may seem like a
resounding defeat for neo-liberalism in
the world’s fourth largest nation. After
all, Lula is an old-time unionist and leader
of the left-wing Workers’ Party (PT). But
I believe his strong showing mainly signifies that the Left has moved toward the
center and accepts many of the tenets of
free-market liberalism.
The contrast between Lula’s behavior and background and those of retiring
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso
supports this interpretation. Cardoso was
a former left-wing professor who helped
develop dependency theory, which
claimed that developing nations such as
Brazil were exploited by capitalist economies such as that of the U.S.. Yet as
Finance Minister and then as President,
Cardoso mainly followed conservative
market-oriented policies.
In 1994, Cardoso ended a rate of
inflation that had exceeded 5,000 percent a year by launching a new monetary
unit, the real. He pegged the real’s exchange rate to the dollar until the Russian
crisis in 1999 led to a run on the real that
forced it to be floated. Still, annual inflation has remained well under 10 percent
since 1997. Cardoso also privatized the
inefficient state telecommunications and
electricity companies as well as a few
other sectors. But in its attempt to raise
more revenue from the sale of these enterprises, the government alienated Brazilians by replacing public monopolies
with protected private monopolies.
Although José Serra, the government
candidate, trailed Lula by over 20
percent in the recent election,
Cardoso remains popular according
to recent polls. This sign that many
policies of the 1990s remain popular
explains why Lula eliminated most
of the radical rhetoric that had been
associated with his party.
During his campaign, Lula promised cautious government spending
policies and committed his party to
upholding the market-oriented reforms of the ’90s. He pledged not to
repudiate the large government debt
accumulated under Cardoso’s presidency and to work with the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions to restore Brazil’s
reputation on world financial markets. To be sure, he expressed opposition to privatizing many more state
enterprises, but he did not call for
renationalization. He also supported
bringing in private companies to run
much of the water system.
There’s no support in Brazil, or
elsewhere in Latin America, for bringing back the discredited populist
policies of earlier decades with extensive state ownership of companies, bloated government employ-
ment, and widespread protection of domestic industry. Socialism is no longer
considered an alternative to the mainly
capitalist systems that Brazil and most
other Latin American nations now have.
Yet if Cardoso’s policies remain reasonably popular, why did many Brazilian
businesspeople and others in the middle
class desert Serra and back Lula? Part of
the answer is their belief that someone
from the Left can better tackle the major
problems facing Brazil without throwing
out the progress reached in the ’90s. This
explanation is similar to why Britain
turned to Tony Blair and his remade
Labor Party after extensive market reforms under the Tory leadership of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
Take unemployment, for example.
The official rate now exceeds 8 percent,
and the true rate is probably much higher.
Brazil continues to have archaic labor
laws that discourage employers from hiring; they induce many workers and companies to work in the gray economic
underground. A flexible labor market
may be attained more easily under someone like Lula, who has the confidence of
unions, than under a conservative President—just as it took New Zealand’s Labor Party to free that country’s labor
market.
Lula also may be better able to deal
with crime. Brazil has one of the highest
crime rates anywhere: Rio de Janeiro is
the only city where I remove my watch
while strolling in a good neighborhood.
With both the police and judiciary widely
seen as corrupt, it may be easier for a
populist to push for sharply higher convictions and increased punishments of
criminals.
How Lula will handle Brazil’s public-sector debt is less clear. The debt
ballooned in the past few years from 30
percent to 60 percent of gross domestic
product. Fear that Lula will default on
this debt explains the sharp decline in
stock prices and in the value of the real
during the months leading up to the presidential vote. Although he has pledged to
repay rather than “renegotiate” this debt
by creating a budgetary surplus, it remains to be seen whether he can succeed.
Many middle-class Brazilians have
come to support Lula because they believe he’ll take a pragmatic approach
while helping to solve remaining economic and social problems. Time will
tell whether these expectations will be
met. But his large vote doesn’t indicate
that Brazil has repudiated market-friendly
policies.
Gary S. Becker, the 1992 Nobel
laureate in Economy, teaches at the
University of Chicago and is a
Fellow of the Hoover Institution. He
is also a columnist for Business Week.
You can contact him at
[email protected]
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
No YesMan
Anymore
After 100 years playing
a subordinate role to the
United States, Brazil, under
Lula, should adopt a more
independent position in its
relation with its northern
neighbor.
JOHN GALANTE
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
Elections in Brazil will mark an
historic watershed in that country’s
relations with the U.S. in the event
of a victory by left-wing frontrunner
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula).
With a population fast approaching
200 million within a matter of years
and a geographical area larger than
the contiguous United States, Brazil is now set to break out from its
more than 100-year run as playing a
subordinate role to that of the U.S.,
as it strikes out on a new, more
independent position in its bilateral
relations with its northern neighbor.
In recent months, behind-thescene tensions have slowly developed between the two nations over
Brazil’s mounting assertions regarding its claim for a permanent
position in the U.N. Security Council, its outrage over Washington’s
application of punitive tariffs on
Brazilian steel exports and the Bush
Administration’s heavy subsidies
of U.S. agricultural exports. The
last undercuts the competitive standing in international markets of Brazilian commodities and industrial
goods, most notably those of orange juice, sugar, cotton and soy
beans.
In a weekend interview with
Reuters television, Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) director Larry
Birns observed that Washington is illprepared to relate to Brazil in its new role
as the hemisphere’s other giant, and that
U.S. negotiators will have to make tough
concessions to Brazil in upcoming Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
trade talks, once a Lula administration
takes office, especially if it intends to
keep the country within the hemispheric
trade zone it is now fashioning, and not
lose it and other regional nations to the
European Union bloc.
While Lula certainly will not become
another Fidel Castro, and while the likely
new president has stated he will honor all
of Brazil’s current commitments to the
international lending agencies, debt default cannot be entirely locked out, but
would occur only in the most extreme of
circumstances. There is no question that
in terms of tone, style and content, Lula is
not at all likely to follow the lead of
current President Fernando Henrique
Cardoso, who moved significantly to the
right after taking office in 1994.
Under Lula’s leadership, Brazil is
scheduled to have much closer relations
with Cuba and cooler dealings with Mexican President Vincente Fox, who Lula is
known to see as playing a surrogate role
for the U.S. in pressuring Cuban reforms.
Significantly, more budgeting weight and
concern will be directed to the country’s
social needs, with less emphasis on
privatization, deflation and contractionist
fiscal policies.
Brazil’s current growing role in the
international system has its origins in the
period of 1902-1912, when foreign minister Baron de Rio Branco developed the
Ministry of External Relations, known as
Itamaraty, as an important institution for
administering the country’s foreign
policy. Rio Branco’s tenure witnessed a
singular evolution in Brazil’s diplomacy,
which defined the perimeters of the Brazilian nation and established inter-American commercial arrangements, legal processes and regulatory frameworks, but
never challenged Washington’s supremacy. Washington’s perspective on
Brazil’s role in international and Latin
American politics also has evolved, filling it with some unease, as the “sleeping
giant” has gradually assumed a larger
role in both regional and global politics
and commerce.
In the mid 1980s, Brazil, like most
Latin American countries, experienced
an economic revolution resulting from
increased access to the U.S. and global
market. However, the imbalance in U.S.Brazilian bilateral economic relations is
evidenced by the often asymmetrical nature of both countries’ trade ties. The
tariff and non-tariff barriers affecting
Brazilian goods, which has impeded the
U.S. import of Brazil’s relatively inexpensive product-line, and the overvaluation of the real in the early 1990s, reduced Brazil’s competitiveness and contributed to negative trade balances.
Recently, Lula’s popularity has
caused a stir in financial markets as he
came to almost double his lead in poll
results ahead of Cardoso’s handpicked
candidate, José Serra. International investors regard Lula’s leftist leanings and
inexperience in managing a national
economy with uncertainty, if not outright
apprehension. Lula, who opposed the
FTAA in the past, says he will support it
only if the U.S. and Brazil are treated as
equals in negotiations.
In this context, there is speculation
that Lula, whose views differ from the
current government’s somewhat-idealized vision of hemispheric integration,
would possibly be inclined to facilitate
the establishment of bilateral negotiations over trade with the U.S., if he takes
office. If a U.S.-Brazilian bilateral free
trade area is established as an immediate
step (which is highly unlikely at this
time) the presently undefined future of
FTAA could be relegated to a matter of
secondary importance as the two continental giants end up turning their trade
ties to their mutual advantage.
John Galante, is a research associate
with the Council on Hemispheric
Affairs (Coha). He can be reached at
www.coha.org.
Founded in 1975, Coha is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, research
and information organization.
29
Brazilian voters, including those who didn’t support
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,
are sitting back and gradually accepting it, even if many
are still shaking their heads.
Slowly it’s sinking in: Brazil
is about to be governed by
Lula and his supposedly reformed, currently not-soleft-wing PT (Partido dos
Trabalhadores—Workers’
Party.)
Lula and the PT must be
lauded for successfully replacing their losing routine
of the past three presidential
elections, with a solid winning effort at
the polls. In 1989 against Fernando
Collor, 1994 and 1998 facing Fernando
Henrique Cardoso, Lula held the lead in
the early going, only to be overtaken and
defeated as the campaign progressed. He
actually made it to the second-round
against Collor, but was beaten outright
twice by Cardoso, without need for a
runoff.
But what Lula and the PT did differently this time to hang on to the lead
through to the end, while remarkably
obvious, is also incredibly vague. Aside
from the more visible, massive improvement in marketing and communication
techniques and strategy, there’s been a
basic change in the PT’s campaign content—and there’s the rub: it amounts to
no less than the most radical, yet successful about-face in the history of Brazilian
politics. Party positions that for years
symbolized the very existence of the PT
and many of its leaders—Lula included—
were abandoned just months before the
election itself, or so it has been made to
appear. These were replaced with, in
many cases, the opposite view of what
was defended so vehemently before.
Of course, the political process is
dynamic and having a change of heart is
fair ball. But what Lula and the PT
are on the verge of accomplishing in
Brazil goes far beyond that, because
it involves the party’s bottom line—
the very foundation of what the PT
was all about since it was launched
in the early 1980’s, and had stood
for until just a few months before
this election. There’s a vital missing
ingredient here, always present when
politicians change position in a significant manner: nobody in the PT
has said, at any time, that past positions were wrong, outdated or unfeasible. The “new” façade was intro30
Who’s
This
Lula?
While exhibiting an impressive
gallery of flip-flops without so
much as blushing, the PT wishes
to dramatically change economic
policies and redirect funds to
social programs. The problem?
There’s no money.
ADHEMAR ALTIERI
duced quickly and
efficiently, but while
Brazil witnessed the
PT’s “in with the
new”, nobody at any
time in this campaign
ever saw anything resembling an “out
with the old”…
This, naturally,
leaves the impression that the “old”
isn’t dead and buried at all. Which begins to explain the
economic turbulence
seen in Brazil in recent months. Lula and his campaign coordinators like to say the Cardoso administration should answer alone for what is
going on—the currency steadily losing
ground against the U.S. dollar, markets
spiraling, sluggish economic activity at
best, rising unemployment, falling industrial output, and analysts around the
world wondering when, no longer if, Brazil will have to restructure its debt.
Throughout the campaign the PT insisted problems had nothing to do with
the campaign and the possibility that
Lula might win, and everything to do
with Brazil’s “vulnerability to external
factors”, caused, of course, by the current government’s policies. That view is
politically convenient in the middle of a
campaign, but it simply doesn’t hold
water.
The fact is that when Brazil’s economy
began to seriously wobble just a few
months ago, all of the country’s economic indicators were in better shape
than a year before. Although some indicators remain comparable or better than
a year ago, generally this is no longer the
case because what’s been happening is
taking its toll. As the currency loses value
for example, and interest rates rise, the
debt load grows, as does the debt to GDP
ratio—and that one really makes
analysts sweat bullets. A devalued
currency helps exports, but puts
pressure on internal prices and leads
to higher inflation, so interest rates
move up, which further restrains
economic activity… and on and on
rolls the snowball.
The Lula Factor
Lula and adman Duda Mendonça
The Brazilian economy wasn’t
exactly booming before things began to deteriorate, but very clearly,
the downward spiral began as one disBRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
tinct variable was introduced—the one
that could affect perceptions about Brazil, and negatively impact its economy in
the way that it has. That variable was the
growing possibility that, this time, Lula
and the PT could actually win Brazil’s
highest political seat.
For those who still have any doubts
whatsoever that this was “the” factor,
newsmagazine Veja dated October 23,
2002, describes as “mesmerizing” the
pace of money transfers out of Brazil in
recent months. No figures are mentioned,
but the magazine does say that in September alone, the total amount sent abroad
from Brazil was six times greater than
what went out in all of 2001, with no
signs of a slowdown. Enough said.
Along with shunning the discomfort
caused by Lula’s imminent victory as a
major reason for economic turbulence,
the PT has also argued that some sort of
resistance exists in Brazil to different
parties and political tendencies alternating in power. But the PT itself exemplifies the absence of that type of concern in
Brazil. The party has reached power at
all levels throughout the country, in both
wealthy and poor states, major and smaller
cities, with mixed results.
The unavoidable fact is clear and
obvious. As Lula and the PT inched ever
closer to winning the presidency, the
party’s 20-year history of siding with
radical “solutions” simply didn’t—and
couldn’t possibly—jive with what the
party and its most emblematic icon and
founder, Lula, are now saying. The difference is so profound that it almost seems
like the PT have adopted an entirely new
language, along with the new image taken
on by Lula. Beard neatly clipped, Armani
suits and silk ties are now the norm, with
Lula at times referred to as “little Lula
peace and love”…
Then and Now
To better illustrate where things are
and where they’ve been, and why it’s
enough to wreak havoc with anyone’s
notion of what makes sense—politically
or otherwise—here are a few “then and
now” examples—the PT and Lula have
moved:
* From backing unilateral default on
Brazil’s foreign an internal debts, to stating that a PT government will “fulfill all
existing commitments”. Before this
change of heart, the PT had gone so far as
to support a plebiscite organized earlier
this year by the Catholic church, asking
Brazilians if they thought the debt should
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
lies that have jumped on the PT bandwagon. These include a number of oldstyle political warhorses, many accused
of blatant, multi-figure acts of corruption
in the past. People the PT completely and
loudly execrated until not that long ago…
Money Is the Object
be paid at all;
* From constantly demonizing the
World Bank and the IMF as institutions
at the service of big capital and directly
responsible for the miserable existence
of so many in Brazil, to declaring a willingness to deal with and accept terms
negotiated with these institutions;
* From stating frequently that Brazil
has “no need” for foreign investment, to
declaring a future PT government open
to foreign capital, which is now “welcome”;
* From explicitly backing the MST,
the extreme left-wing landless peasant
movement known for often violent land
invasions on the Brazilian countryside,
to pledging that land reform will be violence-free and respectful of private property rights;
* From promising to revise all
privatizations and reversing them where
it felt the need, to no longer questioning
the legitimacy of privatizations already
concluded;
This is just a partial list of the sharp
changes characterizing the PT’s campaign discourse. When asked to explain
such drastic revisions, party leaders meander into lengthy explanations about
having grown politically, and gaining a
better understanding of the way things
are and how they work.
A newly acquired grasp of the need to
negotiate, and never shut the door on
those who think differently, is also frontrow center these days—which, of course,
explains the hodgepodge of unlikely al-
While exhibiting this impressive list
of flip-flops without so much as blushing, the PT has consistently said it defends the need to dramatically change
economic policies in order to redirect
funds to social initiatives. This actually
matches what the PT has said throughout
its existence. The trouble begins when
they’re asked to explain precisely how
they intend to change the economic
agenda once in power.
At that point, the PT and Lula provide
scads of rhetoric, but no details that make
any sense to anyone who can add and
subtract. Attempts to explain this point
usually expose an old PT wish list, which
could be any party’s wish list. Its basic
requirement is cash, which doesn’t exist.
Of course, if one is to place these new
social priorities ahead of fiscal responsibility, they can certainly become reality.
And it would make all kinds of sense for
the PT to do just that once in power, since
it strongly opposed the Fiscal Responsibility Law. This is the law that prevents
Brazilian administrators at any level from
spending beyond their budget limits, and
leaving behind unexplained debts (not
contemplated in their budgets) for the
next office holder to sort out.
But, the PT insists, that was then and
this is now: the PT is now all for fiscal
responsibility, and its social objectives
will be met without sacrificing Brazil’s
hard-earned fiscal restraint. How you
ask? People have been trying to get an
answer for that in Brazil for quite some
time, to the point where the media are
being considered an irritant for asking…
Lula and the PT, on the other hand, are
not penalized by the public for not explaining how it’ll come about. Indeed,
Lula is now protected by a Reagan-like
Teflon coating. Nothing ever sticks…
So, is there reason to worry about
what might happen in Brazil? Certainly
not if Lula and the PT have in fact gone
through a most incredible, detailed and
thorough political repositioning, as the
campaign they’ve just run would indicate. If what Lula and his party are now
saying is indeed to be believed, Brazilians—and foreign investors—should
have nothing to worry about, since all the
31
right promises have been made, feasibility notwithstanding. But of course, in
order to outright believe that, one must
necessarily ignore the 20-year history of
the Worker’s Party and its founder, the
once brash and outspoken former metalworker Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Chances are it’s not all smoke and
mirrors, and Lula and the PT truly hope
to make good on what they’re now saying. And they want to do it “their way”,
even though they haven’t told voters
exactly what that is in many instances.
But to make it all happen, the PT will
have to work with the allies it has attracted in order to form a government
and a viable support base in Congress.
And that’s where it’s bound to get
messy, simply because Brazilian politics are what they are—through two administrations, the Cardoso government
did not accomplish nearly as much as it
hoped because of the heavy horse-trading involved. Numerous main objectives were shoved aside, because to go
through with them and appease political
interests would have meant settling for
the unacceptable. The PT and Lula are
about to get a taste of that bitter reality,
and given the how dramatically they say
32
they’ve changed, one can only wonder
how they’ll deal with it.
Bottom line: in order to reach power at
the federal level, the PT resorted to the
exact same tactics and strategies it condemned for 20 years, in one of the bestever examples of “if you can’t beat them,
join them” in Brazilian political history.
They threw their doors wide open, allied
themselves with totally antagonistic past
enemies, reversed positions and denied
their own traditions.
In doing so, they disfigured the PT, the
only political party in Brazil that still
resembled a properly functioning political party because it stood for very clear,
well-defined positions. Agree or disagree
with the PT, you always knew exactly
where they stood and what they were all
about—until now.
This is no small loss. As someone who
has been close to every election campaign
in Brazil since the end of the military
regime in the 1980’s, I had always seen
the stability and clarity of positions displayed by the PT—and the party’s gradual
growth on the Brazilian political scene—
as a hopeful sign. Perhaps other parties
would pick up on this, and begin to function like real political parties, committing
to programs and ideas, identifying and
attracting those who think alike, and
turfing out those who are only in it for
themselves. Perhaps others would realize that being focused and consistent,
and sticking to your guns, does win
votes… But, alas, it seems the PT’s patience ran out, and instead of being copied, they, unfortunately, became like their
opponents.
Adhemar Altieri is a veteran
with major news outlets in Brazil,
Canada and the United States.
He holds a Master’s Degree in
Journalism from Northwestern
University in Evanston, Illinois, and
spent ten years with CBS News reporting from Canada and Brazil.
Altieri is a member of the Virtual
Intelligence Community, formed by
The Greenfield Consulting Group to
identify future trends for Latin
America. He is also the editor of
InfoBrazil (http://www.infobrazil.com),
an English-language weekly e-zine with
analysis and opinions on Brazilian
politics and economy.
You can reach the author at
[email protected]
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
Rio’s
Holiest
View
Faced with the PT’s fine standing after the
first round the international press may be
reveling in a cold war pastiche, but deep
within the Brazilian electorate the PT’s main
rivals are evangelists
NORMAN MADARASZ
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
From the air, the ‘cidade maravilhosa’ was not so
much draped in red as blanketed in white. Millions of
paper backgrounds, pieces of political propaganda,
stickers, pamphlets, slips and posters, shot back light to
the spring sun. Some were still swaying in the bay
breeze as they spiraled to the ground in a last bid to
encrust the face of candidates onto the conscience of
voters. Gliding down into the melee, people’s faces
now in view, spontaneous socialist marches were breaking out in many districts. The red flag, symbol of blood
and struggle, healthily breathed the spicy humidity of a
victory set in the tropics.
In the aftermath of the first round in Brazil’s 2002
presidential elections, the Workers’ Party (PT) is celebrating their best result in a two-decade long history.
Barely a week ago, though, the residents of Rio were
reminded for a few hours of how daunting the challenges are which lie ahead.
On Monday September 30, the city awoke to a week
bound for history. The national currency hovered dangerously close to the psychological 4-to-1 mark with
respect to the dollar. Weekend polls had Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva, PT presidential hopeful, stretching tautly
over the 50 percent high-bar, possibly hurdling to
power in the first round. Despite the international
support brought to the country’s economy by the IMF’s
$30 billion loan a month ago, many questioned the
current government’s ability to draw the country intact
to January 1 when the new president would take over.
Apart from the desire to govern, the PT rank and file
soberly contemplated what they would be able to
achieve under these highly sensitive financial conditions.
Yet on that Monday the Real would in fact gain
strength. Economists glared confidently with the news
of a record $US 2,349 billion third-quarter trade balance surplus, setting the total for the year at $US 7,727
billion. Few had expected the momentary scenes of
panic sparked in the city as narco-gang lords provoked
the shutdown of shops in 40 different districts, including Copacabana and Ipanema. Classes in 40 percent of
private schools were hindered, while 22 percent of
public schools had unexplainably failed to open at all.
Buses lacked, creating chaos for workers and leaving
800,000 commuters without service. At the same time
the civilian police, managed at the municipal level by
Mayor Cesar Maia, had simply seemed to vanish. In the
end, businesses suffered losses estimated at $US 40
million.
Was it a menacing rumor of reprisal that spread like
brushfire? Or had the gangs fully, and finally, taken
over from their favela outposts? For the state government, seated in Rio’s south zone and headed by Ms
Benedita da Silva from the PT, it could only have been
a political ploy meant to destabilize her chances for reelection.
Her insinuations were not a preconceived partisan
attack. This was politics of a broader sort. It was the
kind that lets you speak of the battle waged between the
democratic Republic and drug-traffic gangs as a continuing medium-intensity civil war. Benedita summoned
all of the state’s police forces to the streets. Further
threats to destabilize Sunday’s elections led her to seek
protection from the federal government, which promptly
dispatched the army to watch over risk areas and ensure
33
safety for Rio’s battered residents.
Red Wave
Such scenes should in no way deter
the celebrations justly being held for
Lula, leader of the first round results with
46.44 percent of the tally. The country
has been swept over by a red wave, with
the PT now the best represented party in
the Lower House of Congress. In the
Senate, it has nearly doubled its representation. Apart from the federal votes,
Brazilians were also asked to select their
next state governor and some state representatives. There was a lot of button
pushing in Brazil’s second entirely electronic vote.
Voting is obligatory here, the expression of republican duty. As a North American attending his first elections in Brazil,
this obligation stirred up conflict with my
homebred individualism. Shouldn’t it be
up to each and every individual to decide
on whether to vote? Ushered into national pride by my companions who strode
in solemn tranquility in Catete on their
way to voting booths, I’ve concluded
that: No, voting is a binding matter of
civic responsibility. If there is anything a
State owes to its citizens, it is to enshrine
voting as their rightfully unalienable duty
to choose who is to govern them.
Our North-American political leadership, perhaps more so in the US than
Canada, is far too content to be victorious in a climate cleaved of the voting
majority. The Soviet-style two-party system that has taken over the US will last
well into the future. Meanwhile, the population folds in dejected desperation at the
impossibility of seeing progressives govern at home. As for the Elected, their
minimal concern is legitimacy. Either a
Republican or Democrat achieves this
easily from the subservience of the establishment media, notwithstanding the street
smart postures of the latter. Television
debates in Brazil had set the cut-off point
to four candidates. Who had the jurisdiction to bar Ralph Nader from the American presidential debates? Was this another act of individual and democratic
free will?
Despite the PT’s brilliant performance, on the day after there remained a
shrill sense of disappointment in the
streets of Rio. Some Rio residents awoke
with the odd sensation that their aerial
view had not been mistakenly skewed
from red into white after all. There was a
palpable perception that the state had
voted contrary to the national tendency.
The PT had a disappointing finish here,
with the State being only one of three in
which Lula was defeated. But for a bare
minimum of districts in the city itself, Rio
34
had indeed chosen the white veil.
Costly Alliance
Where you live in Brazil will undoubtedly color your perception of the
election. Lula took over 50 percent of the
vote in three states, including very prosperous Minas Gerais and Santa Catarina.
In Rio, we have been given an ominous
sign of the country’s future. Its national
rival, the Brazilian Social Democratic
party (PSDB), did not beat the PT here. If
there was a stunned silence in many parts
of the South Zone and downtown on
Monday, it was because Rosinha Matheus
Garotinho had been swept to victory in
the first round of the gubernatorial race
with 51.3 percent.
Rosinha, as she is commonly known,
is only one half of a pair. Her husband,
Anthony, or simply “Garotinho” (which
means little boy in Portuguese), is the
former state governor. For the longest
time, his bid for the presidency failed to
leave a languishing fourth place standing. Early in August, there was even talk
of him dropping out. But in his home
state, he ended up beating Lula by two
percentage points. Countrywide, Garotinho suddenly became a contender, finishing third with roughly 18 percent of
the tally. This result makes the inevitability of forming an alliance with him a
strategic and costly challenge for either
Lula or his rival, José Serra (of the PSDB).
The Garotinhos are far from receiving respect from Rio’s middle classes.
During the campaign, Anthony’s obvious populism was self-indulgent to the
point of being repulsive. Rosinha prances
about pretending that she’s the lollypop
queen of the nation’s disenfranchised
children, when she isn’t assuming protofascist imagery in citing herself as an
Evita-like figure: an honest wife loyally
supporting her husband through thick
and thin. Recall that behind every Evita
scurries a Lady Macbeth, misguidedly
blaming her husband’s political opponents for what, when the record has been
set straight, was caused by his own megalomaniacal mismanagement. More to the
point, however, is that behind the populism, the couple stands for something
much larger and more ambitious. It goes
by the name of the Universal Church of
the Kingdom of God.
Founded by Edir Macedo in 1977,
the ‘Universal’ has grown expansively.
With over 7000 churches in Brazil alone,
it owns a national television station,
Record TV, and countless radio stations.
Rio de Janeiro is its Bethlehem, with a
megatemple in suburban Del Castilho,
the “Catedral Mundial da Fé”, able to
greet up to 10,000 faithful.
As most churches, their role is not
merely to provide comfort to the weak
and destitute. Federal University sociologist, Maria das Dores Campos
Machado, has been following the role of
the evangelical movement in the elections. She shared her observations with
Veja Rio magazine: “When the Universal
Church launches a candidate, the ecclesiastical structure gets heavily involved in
the campaign. The Universal Church has
invested massively in assistencialism and
advertising for its social work. They are
fully making use of the mass media.”
The Garotinhos are Presbyterian
evangelists with no explicit ties to the
Universal. In political terms, they merely
represent the Universal’s secular wing.
Yet they have made abundant use of its
infrastructure as a springboard to power.
Though they each ran under the heading
of the PSB, i.e. the Brazilian Socialist
Party, actual use of the word ‘socialism’,
or even ‘worker’ was muted under that of
“Garotinho” and “I/me”.
Meanwhile, Lula’s main contender,
the “government” candidate José Serra,
designated as the official successor to
outgoing president Cardoso, managed to
slip into the run-off elections with 23.2
percent. This figure showed no significant increase over what the polls had
projected when predicting that Lula would
head straight for the Planalto Presidential Palace in Brasília. Who cut down
Lula’s stride in Rio was Garotinho.
Power-hungry Clown
Garotinho would be best described as
an unpredictable electoral clown, were it
not for what has quickly been exposed as
his unquenchable thirst for power. What
he wants is as perplexing as how he got
18 percent of the nation’s popular vote.
Exceeding 15 million voters, this is an
astonishing result for someone who gave
only the most ludicrous promises and
displayed an utter ignorance of economic
issues. He spent three years as governor
in Rio de Janeiro State. Until resigning in
his bid to run for the presidentials, he
polished over what has since exploded as
empty state coffers and drug-lord control
of the greater metropolitan region. Early
in his term, city progressives were filled
with hope for this new, young “socialist”.
Gradually disabused, they soon caught
the real hue of his socialism.
An alliance with the state-level PT
led him to power. It also allowed him to
co-opt its reputation. His most pompous
campaign promise was to boost the minimum wage up to $R 400 ($102) upon
taking office. By contrast, the PT has
called for a gradual increase to $R 300
($77) over three years provided the
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
economy grow by 4.5 percent. His maddest posture was to reject the conditions
of the IMF loan. Given that roughly 95
percent of the 2003 budget has already
been allocated, no victor will have much
breathing space on social spending in the
first year. A vastly undereducated people,
however, may not understand such constraints when the powerful relentlessly
insist to them that nothing is impossible
provided one be willing to try.
His elegant vice-governor and former
federal senator, Benedita da Silva has
struggled with a chaotic situation since
assuming power last spring. Her team has
been determined to fight organized crime
head on. Running mate and current public security and citizenship coordinator,
Luiz Eduardo Soares, was subsecretary
of public security under Garotinho’s government.
Under threat to him and his family,
Soares fled the country once the governor dropped his support and protection
for him after he began exposing the circle
of corruption among the state police hierarchy. While in exile in the US, he spent
time studying the New York City police
force. When he and Benedita went into
action earlier this year, the gang lords
began attacking
state buildings.
The governor herself came close to
being assaulted
one weekend.
As nationals of
any country subjected to intensive
political marketing, Brazilians
have shown fascination for the old
vertical identification phenomenon.
Benedita grew up
in Mangueira, a
poor hillside favela
community in
Rio’s north zone
and legendary
home to samba
greats Nelson
Cavaquinho and Cartola. In spite of arresting two drug kingpins and partially
smashing their organizations, Ms de Silva
has at times been found guilty of expressing shame on her face. Many of the disenfranchised seem to prefer turning their
awe-stricken gaze to the saintly image of
Rosinha instead.
In the months leading up to the elections, the international press has emphasized the discomfort that torments investors and creditors wrought by the thought
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
of having to do business with the PT. But
the picture drawn by Wall Street and the
IMF, as Kenneth Maxwell recently put it
in the Financial Times, is only an extension of the Latin American literary fad of
magical realism by other means. Their
demonization of Lula is typical to northern power brokers who only leave home
to find themselves sequestered behind
the secure walls of five-star hotels and
yachts.
No amount of dialogue seems to be
enough to calm an edgy creditor. Lula
and the PT, including much of the Brazilian media and business class, have painstakingly emphasized his pro-business
alliances, best represented in his choice
of Senator José Alencar from the PL as
his vice-presidential running mate. Even
more, Lula accepted the terms of the $30
billion IMF loan granted to Brazil amidst
its currency crisis in August.
Undeniable to his position, which in
my view is what really disturbs the AngloAmerican golden person set, is Lula’s
passionate nationalism and that of Brazilians in general. Never for a moment
has the Brazilian business class, regardless of political stripe, accepted the speculation on the Real as justifiably due to
Lula’s standing in
the polls. The truth
is that whenever
the south speaks
critical economics, the north takes
it as a rebuff of the
self-proclaimed
superiority of their
ways.
Churches’
Ambitions
What is the
north offering to
the south now that
it grovels amidst
growing recession
and a string of corporation corruption cases? The
unilateral behavior of the Bush regime has not only
impeded dialogue with the south. It has
cast a shadow on shareholder capitalism,
and on the very nature of the economic
growth the north reveled in for the latter
part of the nineties. This is the sentiment
the PT has analyzed, and in regard to
which it is delicately proposing action.
Nonetheless, the face-off between
Serra and Lula is diverting attention from
those who remain their mutual opponents. With popular education only slowly
progressing during the Cardoso years,
various Church groups have set in their
ambitions for Brazil. One of the two
senators Rio will send to Brasília is bispo
(i.e. bishop) Marcelo Crivella, nephew
of the founder of the Universal. His switch
from a church pop pastor symbol, with
millions of CDs sold, to the pastoral
model of political leader has been striking, to say the least. And as the Church
prepares to run a candidate for the federal elections in the future, one can already sense the possible tendency for its,
and Garotinho’s, drive for alliances.
If Garotinho can be taken at his word
for any type of commitment, which is
doubtful, he vehemently rejects any alliance with the PFL (Partido da Frente
Liberal—Liberal Front Party). One of
Brazil’s most powerful parties, the PFL
represents the interests of the notorious
northeastern oligarchs and is well represented in the Lower House and Senate.
The PT has had to temper the sparks it
may launch toward the PFL if it at all
hopes to govern. That’s owing to how
much more the executive branch is constrained by congress than it is in the US.
In trying to expose the compromises between these two parties, Garotinho has
donned an image of purity, claiming to be
free of all alliances—save for the
Church’s, which is not alliance in his
view, but a creed. With ever stroke meant
to destabilize the PT, one can’t help but
sense that an unraveled alliance with the
PFL will only increase Garotinho and the
Universal’s own opportunities in the
Brasília/Rio tandem.
With the international press’ general
reluctance to accept Lula and the PT, it’s
clear that in the eyes of many the cold war
has never disappeared. Pundits keep confusing progressive political projects with
vapid populism. In their eyes, if Stalin
equals Hitler, then it only stands to reason that Lenin and Trotsky do as well.
That this perspective is deeply rooted in
half-digested knowledge of second-hand
readings popularized by the most conservative political commentators is clearly
reflected in the utter ignorance of what is
at stake in Brazil’s criticism of the Free
Trade Agreement of the Americas as it
now stands.
On November 1st, at the ministerial
meeting to be held in Quito, Ecuador, the
US and Brazil will assume the co-presidency of the FTAA until January 2005.
In his charismatic trade-union style, Lula
has shone when describing how hard the
Brazilians will negotiate against protectionism, especially on steel, orange juice
and other produce including soy beans.
If there is one thing North-Americans
must understand at this point, it’s that the
35
PT’s proposals for the FTAA is a fuller
expression of free-trade market principles
than is the Bush administration’s. If
North-Americans refuse to share their
wealth, that’s one thing. But they should
not deny their greed by distorting reality
and disinforming its own public. It should
not be a mystery to anyone that the current lines for instituting the FTAA are
largely favorable to the North. Brazilians
are not about to vanquish their country
faced with the corruption and protectionism of the American business and political elite.
Economic indicators are suggesting
that nothing will be easy for the next
president, whether he be Lula or Serra.
Thus far, though, little has been measured of the consequences behind the
thrust of evangelical representation in
state and federal government. A split has
surely occurred in the middle classes in
which the PT has been revving its power.
In fact, the PT may not be far from being
marred by its direct consequences, as the
main party with which it has run, the PL,
is also filled with the most ‘bishops’ of
the Universal Church.
The messianic message pronounced
away from the eyes of the mainstream
36
media has been heard by the nation’s
disenfranchised. Even then, it is hard to
speak in terms of class lines. The Church’s
ambitions are community forming. Executives and office workers alike have
their roles to play. With nothing but platitudes involved in Garotinho’s political
speeches, the short-comings of what were
by far the most open and hotly debated
campaign the country has ever seen, have
now bared a blind spot.
Serra’s campaign has been the most
tainted by a marketing strategy whose
effect was to water down his political
output. But he will have to make some
hard choices regarding policy questions.
Serra wants to represent the Cardoso
government, yet aim for a vision that
Cardoso either failed to achieve or did
not strive for. Either way Cardoso’s support for Serra is understandably under
the press’ scrutiny, as Brazilians have
overwhelmingly asserted—with 76 percent of votes—their desire to see change
from the president’s path. With Serra at
only 23 percent, he’ll have to move harder
against his mentor if he hopes to accumulate votes. As Garotinho’s antics have
now been sidelined at the federal level,
whether Serra has anything as solid to
bring to debate as he has been boasting, is
what the next three weeks will most likely
reveal.
The disappointment of Lula’s partial
victory on Sunday has started to settle
into a realization of the vast support his
vision does have for Brazilians—regardless of Rio de Janeiro State. That Lula has
beaten Serra in his home state of São
Paulo, Brazil’s industrial and financial
capital, has not only dispelled the stereotype of the Paulista’s disgust for those
from the northeast, the land of Lula’s
birth. It has confirmed the trust of a large
sector of Brazilian industry in Lula.
Now all Lula’s got to show is that he’s
able to keep it. The honesty game is about
to begin. On that score, Lula’s main rivals
are clearly the evangelists. And their conditions for delegating votes are already
mounting.
Norman Madarasz is a
Canadian philosopher.
He lives in Rio de Janeiro, where he
works as a communications consultant,
translator, journalist and philosophy
researcher. He welcomes comments at
[email protected]
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
Paulo Pereira Lima
Turning
Red
Led by President Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva
Communists are taking over
Brazil. The strategy is to
prepare the public mind in
such a way that the transition
to a communist society
would happen naturally, in a
painless way. Evolution,
instead of revolution.
HUASCAR TERRA DO VALLE
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
According to the well-known Brazilian philosopher and journalist Olavo de
Carvalho, a former communist himself,
since 1964 it is under way in Brazil a well
planned and highly successful scheme
aiming at establishing a communist regime in the country. This view was expressed in an interview on August 21st,
last year, to Gaúcha Broadcasting Station, in Rio Grande do Sul State.
The philosopher declared that, in
Brazil, following the tactics devised by
Lenin and refined by the Italian revolutionary Antonio Gramsci, many public
offices, labor unions, public schools, the
media and almost all organizations that
influence public opinion have been infiltrated by reliable members of left wing
political parties, mostly communists.
In all sectors of the government, as
well as in the congress and houses of
representatives of all 26 states and in
about 5,000 municipalities of the country, most politicians came from former
leftist movements, many of them ex-terrorists, including high rank officials. Even
president Cardoso is a former leftist who
lived in exile for many
years.
Practically
all
unions are ruled by fanatical communists.
The number of infiltrated agents among
newspapermen and
teachers is staggering.
Especially in public
schools, history is
taught under the Marxist point of view and
tapes dealing with class
struggle, agrarian re-
form, colonialism, imperialism and other
communist themes are exhibited to the
students, who are asked to make compositions on these subjects.
According to Carvalho, this strategy
of gradually changing the values of the
society follows the ideas of the Marxist
theoretician and founder of the Italian
communist party, Antonio Gramsci. The
strategy is to prepare the public mind in
such a way that the transition to a communist society would happen naturally,
in a painless way. Evolution, instead of
revolution. The pain will be felt only
when the communists reach power and
the bloodshed begins, as has always been
the case.
Even the last 1988 Brazil’s constitution, promulgated prior to the fall of the
Berlin Wall, has been put to the service
of Marxian principles, and grants amazing privileges to the Brazilian Nomenklature (highly paid public officials, as
in the former USSR), such as the privilege of public servants to increase their
own lavish salaries; the right not to be
fired, simultaneously with the right to
make strikes; public pensions ten times
bigger than that of the private sector, and
so forth. Instead of being an instrument
for protecting the citizen, the leftist oriented constitution really creates privileged castes and protects them from the
legitimate claims of the people.
In Brazil, communists are acting in
three fronts. The labor union CUT has
infiltrated members in the great majority
of unions and is always supporting strikes
and every kind of mass movements and
riots.
There is also the rural branch, the
MST (Landless Movement), which fol37
lows Mao Tse-Tung’s doctrines in performing guerrilla actions against farmers
and ranchers in accordance with the basic communist program of abolishing the
property right. The so-called “landless”
peasants, heavily infiltrated by professional members of communist parties,
are invading farms and even public organs, under the accommodating eyes of
the government, who is buying huge areas and distributing them among the landless peasants, besides providing them
with cash and other benefits. Money given
by the government is used to fund more
guerrilla actions.
The MST uses guerrilla tactics learned
in Cuba and Nicaragua, such as using
human shields (putting children and old
people in front on the mob, to be hit first
by the police, with propaganda dividends;
executing detailed invasion techniques
planned months in advance; invading
farms at night, before holidays (to avoid
judicial measures) and using a lot of
vehicles, most of which were bought with
money given by the government. The
invasions may involve thousands of members, led by highly trained communist
agents and they make tents, destroy fences
and even sow the soil as rapidly as possible.
Urban violence is exploding in big
cities, and all types of criminals may
count on the protection of leftists political parties, who consider them their allies
in the fight against the “bourgeois” (the
capitalists). The alleged human rights are
always claimed in favor of bandits, never
in favor of their victims. Part of the
Catholic church, the so-called Progressive Church, adopted a Marxian approach
to social problems and has been used as
“dupes” (useful innocents) by the leftist
wing. Even Catholic masses have been
transformed in communist indoctrination.
The communist movement has also
its political branch, the PT (nicknamed
“Labor Party”), led by the charismatic
Lula, an ex-trade-unionist. Trained in
Cuba on terrorism, Lula, who almost
won the presidency of the country in the
last three elections, finally won this time,
due to the great success of leftist parties
in the last municipal election, held in
October, 2000. The PT won elections in
almost 200 cities, including the most
important city of the country—São Paulo.
The winning São Paulo mayor celebrated
her victory offering a banquet to hundreds of beggars and urchins from the
streets of São Paulo. The Porto Alegre
elected mayor, also from the PT, was
inaugurated in office under the International anthem.
Lula celebrated the victory taking
38
about two hundred of his comrades in a
visit to his mastermind, Fidel Castro, in
Cuba. Many of Lula’s followers, including the president of the party, have already been before on the island, to be
trained in guerrilla and terrorism techniques. Lula even offered Fidel Castro a
title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the
University of Campinas, in the second
greatest city of the Sate of São Paulo,
which is an institution well known for the
its concentration of leftist adherents.
So far Brazil has survived a series of
attempts of taking over the power by the
communists, in 1935, in 1964 and in
1968. A recent book by Professor Denise
Rollemberg, from the University of Rio
de Janeiro State, published in academic
spheres, focus on three attempts by Fidel
Castro to settle guerrilla movements in
Brazil. Severe measures, including the
establishing of an authoritarian regime
had to be implemented in order to prevent the taking over of the government by
the left wing revolutionaries.
Signs of the “painless” communization of the country are visible only to
trained eyes. The top-heavy government
is already capturing about one third of
the GDP as taxes, most of which are
distributed among the members of the
local Nomenklature, scarcely returning
as benefits to the tax payers. The number
of public servants is always on the increase and new competitive examinations are advertised almost daily in the
newspapers. Even a leftist-oriented constitution has been promulgated in 1988 to
easy the way to leftist taking hold of the
government
Hundreds of new public employees
are also being admitted by politicians,
which means that bureaucracy is increasing while the productive sector is dwindling. To meet increased expenses, the
government is always increasing taxes,
which are a deterrent to economic development. Each time, there are less people
producing wealth and more people in the
payroll of the government, as in communist countries. At the same time, tax collecting organs from the government, eager for money, furiously chase evading
tax payers, most of them evading tax
payments because it is impossible to survive paying all the almost sixty different
taxes that are levied by the government.
This will result in the closing of many
business enterprises, whose former employers will have to look for positions in
the government, resulting in an even
greater decrease of the productive sector
and in the increase of the bureaucracy.
The federal government made some
privatization but many privatized organs
have been bought mainly by public
servant’s pension funds. The privatized
companies, formerly belonging to the
federal government, now are owned
mostly by public servants pension funds.
Some foreign investors, afraid of the
progress of leftist political parties, avoid
making investments in the country and
many local entrepreneurs are planning to
leave the country now that Lula is the
new president. Lula is clearly against
privatizing programs and states that he
intends to nationalize foreign companies, to revert privatized companies to
the government and levy heavy taxes on
“great fortunes”. Of course he has the
intention of not paying both the internal
and the foreign debt.
Olavo de Carvalho stresses that, as
usual, leftist parties preach one thing and
practice another. Publicly they praise
democracy, freedom, social justice,
equality and economic progress. However, if we look at their program, available through the internet, it will be obvious that their intentions are exactly the
opposite. Before going to pay homage to
Fidel Castro, Lula declared that people
who think that he and his party is abandoning former communist ideas are completely wrong.
Their ultimate goal still is to establish
a dictatorship of one party, with absolute
power in their hands and complete restriction to any demonstration of individualism. The party’s program, as expected, favors all forms of collectivism.
Freedom will be extinguished in Brazil
and it is probable that other Latin countries will follow Brazil’s example.
Brazilian communist activists have
not moved one inch from their original
Marxist ideas. They even admit publicly
(in their Internet site) that their intention
is to resort to violence in order to reach
their goals of socializing the country.
The party program also declares that the
PT party is just a branch of the international socialist program.
Though all over the world communism is seen as a black page of history,
marked by bloodshed and economic failure, in Brazil it is being hailed as the
solution of all problems of the country,
strictly in accordance to Marxian canons.
If Cuba, with an area of only 114,500
square kilometers, is such an inconvenient country, imagine a communist Brazil as a replica of Cuba, however with
8,500,00 square kilometers and a population of about 170 million people?
Huascar Terra do Valle is a Brazilian lawyer and writer and can be
contacted at [email protected]
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
Natives’ Voice
In 1998, we only had 14 indigenous
candidates. In these elections, that
number grew to 20. Not much, but still a
trend to further the indigenous cause.
If we consider the votes received by the 20
indigenous candidates, a little over 13,000 altogether, we see that they represent only a small
percentage of the country’s indigenous voters,
who total about 200,000. This could lead us to the
conclusion that the “ethnic vote” continues to be
more a debate and an aspiration than a reality.
If we try to identify the reason of the poor
performance of indigenous candidates, we see that
it was caused by various factors. Among them,
special mention should be made of the party policy
historically adopted in indigenous villages, the
high cost of the campaigns, disbelief in the party
policy, and the lack of a true understanding of the
space for the exercise of power in the non-indigenous society.
Despite this scenario, one can notice a greater
interest and a higher awareness on the part of the
indigenous movement of the importance of its
participation in the country’s political life. In 1998,
we only had 14 indigenous candidates. In these
elections, that number grew to 20. This number,
although not very high in itself, reveals the trend to
face the challenge of the ballot boxes as a means to
further the indigenous cause and ensure the rights
of indigenous people.
The present electoral moment and the results of
the elections should show to all the citizens of this
country, particularly to its rulers, that the relations
between indigenous peoples, the State and the
national society should be urgently reviewed, so as
to ensure their participation in the national life
under rules and through channels of their own.
That is, as in other countries, they should be able to
have a differentiated participation in legislative
circles.
If, on the one hand, no indigenous person was
elected, the indigenous candidates of left-wing
parties won most of the votes (72 percent) and most
indigenous people voted for candidates who want
to see a change in the policies now in force. In the
state of Acre, with the reelection of senator Marina
Silva, her alternate Antônio Ferreira da Silva, a
member of the Apurinã people, will continue to
play a role in the political scenario.
The chart below shows the indigenous candidates and the votes they got (source: Cimi and High
Electoral Court).
Indigenous candidates for the position of
House Representative:
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
Name
UF*
Amanuá Seus
MT
Evilasio Pereira
da Silva
PE
José Adalberto
Silva
RR
Total votes:
* Unit of the Federation
People
Kamayurá
Party N. Votes
PMDB 1,504
Fulni-ô
PPS
Macuxi
PC do B 2.291
4.282
487
Indigenous candidates for the position of State Representative
Name
UF*
José Osair Sales (Siã)
AC
Mario Karipuna
AP
Franciscode Oliveira Lima DF
José Alírio Gomes Índio MG
Marta da Silva Vito
MS
Mariano Justino Marcos
Terena
MS
Laércio Marques Pereira MS
Lúcio Paiva Flores
MT
Tapiet Kayapó
PA
Almir Narayamoga Suruí RO
Clóvis Ambrósio
RR
José França Miguel
RR
Gilberto Pedrosa Lima
RR
Rodrigo Batista Pinto
RR
Jonas de Souza Marcolino RR
Sebastião Bento da Silva RR
Gabriel Poti
SC
Total votes:
9.089
* Unit of the Federation
People
Kaxinawá
Karipuna
Tabajara
Aranã
Guarani-Kaiowá
Party
PV
PSB
PSL
PMDB
PT
N. Votes
742
1,977
85
396
1.462
Terena
Terena
Terena
Kayapó
Suruí
Wapixana
Makuxi
Makuxi
Makuxi
Makuxi
Wapixana
Guarani
PST
PV
PT
PSB
PV
PT
PRTB
PSD
PFL
PFL
PFL
PPS
237
116
779
309
577
269
273
37
341
703
143
643
39
The Big
American
Lie
Is the US in the process of
becoming a fascist nation with the
blessings of the American people?
The Brazilian government should
learn with the US how to paint a
rosy picture when the economy is
falling apart, how to live in a world
of illusion.
RICARDO C. AMARAL
I was stunned and very surprised to
find out of how little it took for the
terrorists to put the United States on its
knees. Today I have realized how fragile
the entire American system is.
I live in New Jersey, but only twenty
miles from the World Trade Center site
in New York City. About four miles
from my house I have a beautiful view of
the New York skyline and I could see the
two gigantic twin towers of the World
Trade Center. Now, when I look in the
direction where the twin towers used to
stand I feel a strange feeling.
The terrorists destroyed a few buildings and they killed about three thousand people. The attack will have a profound impact on the lives of the people
who lost loved ones on September 11,
2001. It also had a negative psychological effect on the US population, when we
realized how vulnerable we all are to any
kind of terrorist attacks.
We can consider the 3,000 people
who died in the attack to be a very small
loss in terms of people when we compare that number with the total size of the
US population of 270 million people.
The monetary loss of an estimated $100
billion dollars also can be considered a
small loss when compared to the size of
the US economy of $9 trillion dollars.
The damage to the US seems small
when put in perspective to the damage
done to other countries in the last 20
years. For example, most Americans
don’t even know where Sudan is located
in our globe, and they don’t know that
they have had a devastating civil war
going on since 1983, where more than 2
million have been killed.
In the last 25 years we had a war in
Angola that killed over 600 thousand
people. In Rwanda over 500 thousand
people were killed in that civil war in the
1990’s. There are too many countries
around the world that have been completely destroyed by civil wars such as
Congo, Ivory Coast, Colombia, Somalia, Liberia, Afghanistan, Serbia, and
Bosnia, just to mention a few.
If one watches American television
here in the New York area on a regular
basis, it would seem that there is only
one problem around the world—between
Israel and the Palestinians. Israel has the
latest in war technology, including tanks,
F-16 jets, helicopters, atomic bomb, etc.
The Palestinians have stones, sling shots,
small firearms, and as a last resort they
blow themselves up as suicide bombers.
US on its knees?
The terrorists did not only destroy a
40
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
few buildings and kill over 3,000 people
in the US. They continued to score victory after victory over the United States
in the last year. They also destroyed the
American way of life. Let me explain
what I mean.
In my opinion the US Constitution
and the Bill of Rights is one of the greatest documents ever written. These documents are a masterpiece. These documents embodied the soul of the American nation. It is what sets the United
States apart from the other nations. I wish
every American would send a copy of the
US Constitution and the Bill of Rights to
all the politicians in Washington D.C. to
remind them of what this country is all
about.
After President Bush declared war on
terrorism, the US government took some
drastic measures to wage such a war. On
October 26, 2001 President Bush signed
into law the USA Patriot Act of 2001.
This law is based on the assumption that
Americans are willing to give up their
civil liberties in exchange for safety. A
legislative analysis of the USA Patriot
Act by the American Civil Liberties Union
shows the following:
1) For immigrants, the law is a dramatic setback that gives the government
the authority to detain—indefinitely in
some cases—non-citizens who are not
terrorists on the basis of vague allegations of a risk to national security.
2) Allow for indefinite detention of
non-citizens who are not terrorists on
minor visa violations if they cannot be
deported because they are stateless, their
country of origin refuses to accept them
or because they would face torture in
their country of origin.
3) Minimize judicial supervision of
federal telephone and Internet surveillance by law enforcement authorities.
4) Expand the ability of the government to conduct secret searches.
5) Give the Attorney General and the
Secretary of State the power to designate
domestic groups as terrorist organizations and deport any non-citizen who
belongs to them.
6) Grant the FBI broad access to
sensitive business records about individuals without having to show evidence
of a crime.
7) Lead to large-scale investigations
of American citizens for “Intelligence”
purposes.
There are 23 pages in this new act
dealing with the subject of money-laundering. This extensive section of the USA
Patriot Act dealing with money launderBRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
ing also gives the government new powers and makes it easy for the government
to freeze and confiscate assets of anyone,
including American citizens. The USA
Patriot Act increased substantially the
risk of doing business in the US because
of the possibility of confiscation of assets
and property.
I wonder what the long-term full impact of the USA Patriot Act will be on the
US culture and economy—the capital
flight from the US economy, the impact
on immigrants and their families who are
living in the US today, the impact on new
immigration to the US, and the impact on
civil liberties of the American people.
The USA Patriot Act represents a
major victory of the terrorists over the
United States and its free society. We can
see another victory for the terrorists in
the creation of the Homeland Security
Agency, a department which is exempt
from following the rules and guidelines
set by the US Constitution and Bill of
Rights. This is another example of how
the American people handed their civil
liberties on a silver platter to the terrorists’ cause. From what I understand, this
new Homeland Security Agency is an
organization similar to the Soviet KGB
or the German Gestapo.
The US government has been operating for a long time with two fine organizations; the CIA and the FBI. Both organizations operate under the rule of law,
meaning the US Constitution and Bill of
Rights. This new Homeland Security
Agency looks very suspicious to me with
its secret intelligence court. Even two
American citizens were put on trial and
denied the right to meet with a lawyer. As
we all know, democracy and justice can
die behind close doors.
As reported in The New York Times
on September 10, 2002, the Bush Administration unveiled the new TIPS program ( for Terrorism Information and
Prevention System ) to recruit Americans to spy on their fellow Americans.
These developments make me wonder if
the US is in the process of becoming a
fascist nation with the blessings of the
American people.
Two weeks ago when I was talking in
the telephone with an aunt of mine in
Brazil, she asked me why Americans
hate Brazilians. I asked her why she was
asking me that question, because I had no
idea what she was talking about. She told
me that she was watching on television in
Brazil the story of about 30 Brazilians
illegal immigrants who had been caught
in the US when the federal government
started using every available statute to
hunt down and punish terrorists.
These people were not terrorists, they
were immigrants trying for a better life in
the US, but they were treated as if they
were dangerous people. These people
were deported from the US. They were
not allowed even to go home to get their
personal belongings. They arrived in
Brazil with only the clothes they were
wearing when they got caught in the US.
What happened to the belongings of these
people, including the contents of their
houses, cars, etc?
The same type of treatment is being
given to illegal immigrants from other
countries.
I bet that when they are deported to
their original countries, the local media
also are reporting on the mistreatment
received by these immigrants in the US.
I am sure that this kind of reporting is not
helping the image of the US in foreign
lands.
The American media usually does
not report on these issues which impact
our lives here in the US. The American
media would rather expend half of their
daily broadcast on the subject of Israel
and the Palestinians, and the other half
demonizing Saddam Hussein and Iraq.
I told my aunt that they are not giving
this hash treatment only to Brazilians.
They are giving this treatment to immigrants in general. Just God knows what
really is going on here in the US, since the
current government administration has a
policy of doing things in secret.
The American overreaction to the
terrorist attack of 9/11 has major longterm consequences to the US economy.
The New York Times reported on October 13, 2002 that “slowdown on US visas
stalls business, science, and personal
travel plans. A global slowdown in the
issuing of American visas to foreigners is
disrupting lives in the United States and
abroad. It is interfering with scientific
research and business deals, forcing some
people to postpone medical treatment
and weddings and stranding others away
from their homelands, say government
officials and advocates for immigrants.
Foreigners have been waiting months for
security clearances to the US.”
Life Is Hell
Life has become a nightmare here in
the US for illegal immigrants (It is estimated that there are over 6 million illegal
immigrants living in the US today. To put
it in some perspective, that figure represents twice the entire population of a
country such as Uruguay, and most of
these people are living in fear in the US.)
Most of these illegal immigrants came to
41
the US looking for a better life.
I asked a friend of mine who has a
large Brazilian restaurant in Newark, why
the restaurant was so empty. I used to go
there for dinner on a regular basis and I
noticed that lately the restaurant was
empty during some weekdays. He told
me that a large number of illegal Brazilian immigrants who lived in the Newark
area were returning to Brazil, because of
the new situation here in the US. The job
market is dead in the New York Metropolitan area and they can’t find any type
of work. On top of that, they were afraid
most of the time of being caught by the
US government and ending up in prison,
and then of being deported to Brazil.
On many occasions when I was waiting for my food at the restaurant, I heard
the conversation of the other patrons, and
they usually were complaining to each
other about how hard it was to find any
kind of work today here in New Jersey.
About a year ago, before 9/11, I was
leaving this Brazilian restaurant in Newark, when on my way out I heard the
private telephone conversation of a Brazilian young man in his mid 20’s. He was
very upset and was saying that he had
been looking for any job in Newark for
days and he could not find anything. He
also said that he had no money and that he
had had nothing to eat in more than two
days. He told his friend that he was starving and did not know what to do. I tapped
on his shoulders and when he turned I
could see on his face how desperate he
was. I gave him enough money for a meal
and wished him well. To make things
even worse, most of these illegal immigrants can’t even speak English and they
don’t know where to go to find any kind
of help.
Brazil’s Chance
I have first-hand experience as to
what is happening here in the New York/
New Jersey job market, since I also have
been looking for a job for a while. I see a
large number of qualified people every
day when I go to the labor department
and nobody is finding decent jobs in
accordance with our education level. We
have all the skills but where are the jobs?
If we can’t find a job here in the New
York Metropolitan area, then forget about
finding a job in the rest of the country.
In an article entitled “Out of a job and
no longer looking, “ The New York Times
on September 29, 2002, wrote that the
real unemployment rate in the US is completely misleading. It is close to double
the numbers reported by official government statistics. Millions of discouraged
42
unemployed people have turned
to disability insurance.
Instead of 5.8 percent, the
real unemployment number is
close to 12.0 percent. People who
run out of unemployment benefits are not counted anymore as
being unemployed. The government statistics are all smoke and
mirrors, and hype of meaningless
information. I wonder if the stock
analysts that covered Enron,
WorldCom, and other worthless
companies also worked on the
published numbers of these government statistics.
Many of the people that I
meet at the labor department on a
regular basis have exhausted their
unemployment extensions, and
they are living now by depleting
the nest egg that they have accumulated for the retirement years.
These people are in their 50’s;
they don’t know how much longer
they can keep going on in this
fashion, and they don’t know what
they will do when it is time for
retirement and the money is all
gone. Seems to me that we are in
the process of milking the American economic system dry.
I hear people from other lands saying
that American politicians don’t care about
other countries. When I hear that, I think
to myself, why should the American politicians care about the people of other
countries, when they don’t care even
about the American population? For example: those bastards left Washington
for the elections break, without giving an
unemployment extension to the American people who most need their help at
this time.
The new Brazilian government should
learn here in the US how to hype misleading information and show how things are
going well when in reality they are losing
money or are falling apart. How to live in
the world of illusion.
There is one thing no one can take
away from the US government and US
corporations: they are the masters of illusion. We can see that on a daily basis not
only in Hollywood and on the Disney
Amusement Parks, but also in the business world and the government’s economic statistics.
I am sure that Brazil also can become
a world economic power if Brazil is allowed by the world community to borrow
itself to a ridiculous amount of $8 trillion
dollars of debt, such as the United States.
Today economics and finance are so
much out of touch with reality. The finan-
cial markets are destroying the Real, the
Brazilian currency, when Brazil has only
a total $250 billion of debt, and at the
same time the US dollar is so strong in the
international financial markets, when the
US government has over $8 trillion dollars of debt, and many states are choking
with red ink here in the US. American
consumers and American corporations
also are all choking in debt.
The numbers are so ridiculous today
that they don’t make sense to me. The
total Brazilian government debt is considered high at $250 billion dollars. And
at the same time the total US government
debt is so high, at over $8 trillion dollars,
that the US government has to pay as
interest on its debt the amount of approximately $200 billion dollars per year.
The US pays in interest per year an amount
close to the entire Brazilian government
debt. Something is wrong here. The total
US government debt is 32 times the
amount of the total Brazilian government
debt.
The US Deflation
Seems to me that the financial markets of the world lost any common sense,
and they are driven only by hype and
nothing else. In the new deflationary environment that we will be living in the
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
future, God knows for how long, the US economy is in a
position for a repeat performance of the great depression of the
1930’s.
It is like a recipe for big trouble to be in debt during
deflationary times. The housing bubble is ready to be burst, just
like the stock market bubble. From that point on, consumer
confidence and everything else will go down hill. Companies
lay off people, there is less buying power, they lay off even
more people, we have a deflationary spiral and so on. People
with no jobs can’t pay the bills including credit cards and
mortgages.
People have to sell their houses, and the flood of new houses
on the market depresses even further the market price for
houses. After a while, if you have some money, you can buy
what used to be a $100,000 house for about $ 15,000. The last
time we had deflation on this large scale in the US was in the
1930’s and very few adults remember those days.
Recent experience in Japan and here in the US showed us
how quickly asset values (in equities or real estate) can melt
away. Remember, asset values decline very fast but the liabilities don’t go away. If you just bought a house for $400,000 and
have a mortgage for that amount, when housing values decline
in the near future and that house is worth only $200,000 or less,
you still owe the bank the $400,000. Your debt doesn’t go
away, as asset value is declining. I am not surprised that they are
trying very hard in Washington to change the bankruptcy laws.
The creditors know that massive losses are on the horizon
related to the deflationary wave that will affectthe US economy.
Here is some further information which I am quoting from
the article “The Risk That Won’t Go Away,” in Fortune
magazine dated March 7, 1994: Financial derivatives are
tightening their grip on the world economy. And nobody knows
how to control them. Like alligators in a swamp, financial
derivatives lurk in the global economy. Deriving their value
from the worth of some underlying asset, like currencies or
equities, these potentially lucrative contracts are measured in
trillions of dollars. But they also lie in convoluted layers in a
tightly wound market of global interconnections. And that
gives them the capacity to bring on a worldwide financial
quake.
“...The lead actors, small in number, are derivative dealers:
the big commercial banks, the major securities firms, plus an
occasional outlander from insurance. For these players, derivatives have become an imposing source of profits, earned largely
on the fastest-growing, most controversial instruments of all:
customized, over-the-counter contracts written between a dealer
and another party.
“...Counting everything, including both derivatives traded
on the futures and options exchanges and over-the-counter
(OTC) derivatives, the notional value of derivative contracts
outstanding is today an estimated $16 trillion. That leaves the
GDP of the US, at around $6.4 trillion, in the dust. ...Most
chillingly, derivatives hold the possibility of systemic risk—
the danger that these contracts might directly or indirectly
cause some localized or particularized trouble in the financial
markets to spread uncontrollably.
“...An imaginable scenario is some deep crisis at a major
dealer that would cause it to default on its contracts and be the
instigator of a chain reaction bringing down other institutions
and sending paroxysms of fear through a financial market that
lives on the expectation of prompt payments. Inevitably, that
would put deposit-insurance funds, and the taxpayers behind
them, at risk.”
That Fortune magazine article also mentioned that the
derivatives market was growing at a 40 percent rate per year.
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
That means that on the conservative side, the value of contracts
in the derivatives market must have grown by over 300 percent
since March 1994, and the estimated value for them at the year
end 2002 should be over $ 50 trillion dollars.
I don’t understand why, after such a sharp stock market
decline since January 2000, compounded by the economic
losses of 9/11, the collapse of the telecom, and airline industries, and massive corporate fraud on corporate America, how
come all this did not result in major losses for the banks,
insurance companies, hedge funds, and other financial institutions, creating havoc in this derivatives market. Massive losses
in this derivatives market can sink the entire US economy.
The new deflationary wave which will hit the US economy
will be bigger than the Japanese wave. This will be the biggest
deflationary contraction in world history. It is a record that
most Americans hope that they don’t achieve.
The New York Times on October 14, 2002 had an article:
“Auditors Say US Agencies Lose Track of Billions.” According to the article, the US government accounting system is in
shambles. The Enron corporation accounting system and information are more accurate and reliable than the US government
system. We all know what happened to Enron. Auditors plug
numbers at government agencies by the billions of dollars.
If the US government financial numbers are as bad as the
article describes, then I don’t understand why the US dollar is
not crashing, and losing its value in relation to other currencies.
The combination of all of the above opens the door to Brazil
become the next world economic power. In other words, Brazil
will pick up the pieces from the decline of the United States.
Ricardo C. Amaral is an economist and author. He
can be contacted at [email protected]
43
Three by
Tereza Albues
Na sala clara o gato dorme. Pousa a
cabeça entre as patas, ressona. Contra a
luz da janela seu corpo é uma sombra
parda de pelos fofos. A manhã indecisa
infiltra-se pelas venezianas e na nossa
vida, suave. Será um dia como outros
nesta praia quase deserta de ares da
cidade. Quase deserta. Levanto-me,
escancaro a cortina, sondo o céu azul,
desenhos abstratos. Tomo café, saio,
chapéu, sandálias, short, camiseta
estampada, um livro. Vou me sentar à
beira-mar, no banco de sempre,
contemplando a paisagem que não muda.
Paisagem estática que se contrapõe ao
movimento das ondas provocantes. Gosto
do vaivém belicoso. É a vida tentando
quebrar a monotonia deste recanto de
férias, oscilando entre o fim da primavera
e o começo do verão. Neste intermezzo
de estação e ambivalências, ponho-me a
pensar em Jerome, no dia em que nos
separamos. Dia nada especial para a
natureza. Para nós o rompimento
definitivo dos fios esgarçados da nossa
relação, insustentável. Foi assim como a
última distensão do elástico que já perdeu
a flexibilidade, estala ossos que não tem,
44
The
Angel’s
Fable
The angel proved to be
an insatiable satyr, I
abandoned the bad witch’s
armor and surrendered to
the pleasures of paradise. I
kept the sharp nails to
scratch the satin skin of the
angel, who in turn sunk teeth
and tongues into my
breasts, abdomen, clitoris.
TEREZA ALBUES
geme, arrebenta nervos, não suporta mais
a tensão. Que não fosse o elástico, seria
uma corda de embira, rota, como aquela
que bamboleia no cais obsoleto do King
Bay. Ambos sem serventia. Na essência
e no contexto. Não sei porque estou aqui
a buscar imagens, símbolos, metáforas,
que em nada me ajudam na cura dos
ferimentos da alma. Talvez esteja
tentando visualizar sentimentos, talvez
ao lhes dar aparência material, seja mais
fácil lidar com a dor. Vê só? Os artifícios
de que nos valemos na hora em que nos
vemos desamparados. E por que não?
Tudo é válido quando se tem o vácuo
deixado pelo amor que se supunha eterno.
Se bem que conferir eternidade a pactos
humanos foi duma ingenuidade de
querubim. Lábios roxos, bochechudos,
cabelos encaracolados de inocência. Mas
Jerome me dava essa sensação. Mesmo
quando mentia. Era demais a pureza de
propósitos. De arrepiar a pele do mais
insensível mortal. Ou a pele sedosa de
violeta entreaberta, ainda virgem de
abelhas. Ou a do botão fechado de líriodo-campo, trêmulo de pudor.
Jerome era belo e consistente. Na
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
mentira? Tenho dificuldades em rotular
suas ações. Hoje não sei se era falsidade
premeditada. Porque ele não parecia um
ator representando um personagem.
Como nos anfiteatros da Grécia antiga, a
máscara que trazia pregada na cara, era
ele. Em carne e osso. Ele era o
personagem. Que amava, sofria, gargalhava, conforme as experiências
vivenciadas. Ele devia acreditar no que
fazia. Por isso a candidez. Mentira
sincera, existe isso? Se não existe, Jerome
inventou o gênero. Ele podia criar
acontecimentos e emoções com tamanha
engenhosidade e realismo que o expectador ficava fascinado. Ele era todo
sedução e carisma. Seus olhos verdes
brilhavam de esmeraldas, a expressão
serenava, os gestos davam vida às
palavras. Promessas, declarações de
amor, planos, trabalho, a família, colegas,
viagens, aventuras da adolescência. Tudo.
Uma certa graça o envolvia, ele se tornava
quase translúcido, angelical mesmo, as
estórias fluíam leves. De uma leveza de
asas de borboletas, pirilampos, anjos
peraltas brincando de esconde-esconde
entre constelações invisíveis.
Falando de anjos.
Eu os encontrei num desfile de Halloween na Washington Square. Um grupo
de cinco rapazes e duas moças, entre
eles, Jerome. Longas batas de cetim
salpicadas de estrelas prateadas, asas
compridas, penas macias de garça,
auréola de brocado fosforescente. Eu e
duas amigas, feiticeiras negras, rostos
verdes, chapéus pontudos, unhas postiças,
vassouras de palha, dançando ao redor
de fogueiras imaginárias. Começamos a
conversar, separamo-nos do restante do
grupo, varamos a noite juntos percorrendo
os bares lotados e barulhentos de Manhattan. Divertimo-nos enormemente.
Amanheci no apartamento dele, na Marks
Place, no East Village. Minha fantasia de
bruxa dormia no chão, debaixo das asas
e vestes do anjo nu, que agora me
abraçava entre almofadões indianos. Ele
tinha a cara verde, eu estava coroada de
estrelas. Fizemos amor repetidas vezes.
O anjo revelou-se um fauno insaciável,
eu larguei a couraça de bruxa malvada e
me entreguei aos prazeres do paraíso.
Conservei as unhas afiadas para arranhar
a pele acetinada do anjo que por sua vez
cravava dentes e línguas pelos meus seios,
ventre, clitóris. Tesão, gemidos, sussurros. O corpo atlético de Jerome,
inventivas sexuais, orgasmos nunca
sentidos. Eu disse, ele também. Nenhuma
mulher como eu. Homem nenhum como
ele. Não mais nos separamos a partir
daquele momento. Nossa paixão, como
fogo sagrado, nos envolvia mais que o
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
corpo, a alma. Tornamo-nos amantes,
parceiros, cúmplices, num pacto secreto
de felicidade infinita. Ah, como foram
maravilhosos os dias do East Village...
Dias longínquos e rarefeitos no tempo.
Como a névoa que vem surgindo no
horizonte desta praia quase deserta. Quase
deserta dos ares da cidade. Não das
lembranças.
Jerome nascera em New Orleans.
Quando tinha dois anos, a família se
mudou para a Califórnia. Tinha uma única
irmã de nome Geraldine, antropóloga,
trabalhando num projeto no Kenia. Os
pais, Gregory e Violet Porter, eram ricos
proprietários de grandes fazendas, gados,
plantações. Ele estudara Sociologia em
Berkeley mas em pouco tempo descobriu
que sua vocação era outra. Queria ser
fotógrafo. Interessara-se por fotografia
desde os sete anos, quando ganhara a
primeira câmara, presente de aniversário
do avô Barnard. Tinha caixas e caixas de
fotografias acumuladas durante anos.
Viera para New York, matriculara-se na
Escola de Artes Visuais e pouco depois
trabalhava como freelance no Village
Voice e Daily News. Nunca passara
apertos financeiros. Se não aparecia
trabalho, a família o ajudava prontamente.
Assim ele vinha vivendo há dois anos,
com um certo conforto, não podia se
queixar. Mas o seu sonho mesmo era
fazer fotografias de arte, ter o próprio
estúdio, ser conhecido internacionalmente. Para isso vinha se esforçando
enormemente. Estudava muito, não perdia
exposições de fotógrafos famosos nas
galerias do Soho, procurava estar
inteirado de todos os movimentos e
novidades nesse campo. Freqüentava
workshops e estava sempre fotografando.
Usava câmaras sofisticadas, tentando
obter efeitos originais e surpreendentes.
Vou conseguir o que quero, disse-me
certa vez, acredito no meu sonho. Eu não
duvidei.
Tudo isso ele me contou.
Averiguar nem se eu quisesse.
Andava muito ocupada com a minha
tese de mestrado em Literatura na N.Y.U.,
trabalhava trinta horas por semana na
Barnes & Noble, fazia economias pra
poder pagar as contas no fim do mês:
aluguel, luz, telefone, etc. Dividia um
sala e quarto com Marion, uma aspirante
a atriz, outra que tinha de se desdobrar
para se equilibrar nas finanças. Vim duma
família classe média, estudei às custas de
bolsas e empréstimos bancários, desde
cedo venho lutando pra conseguir meu
ideal: ser escritora. Eu também tenho um
sonho. Jerome entendeu.
Foi o que eu lhe contei.
Pura e simples, a verdade.
Depois me contaram. Outra versão
do que ele havia me contado. Os pais de
Jerome, simples funcionários do City
Hall, moravam em Brooklyn, numa casa
modesta. Era filho único. Geraldine, uma
fotógrafa que trabalhava para a National
Geographic Magazine, a amante mais
velha, bem sucedida que o sustentava.
Ele passava os dias perambulando por
Manhattan, em cinemas, galerias,
barzinhos, enquanto ela viajava a trabalho
pela Europa. As fotografias artísticas que
havia me mostrado, como sendo tiradas
por ele, mentira. Eram de Geraldine Jordan.
Tudo isso me foi dito pelo seu amigo
Michael.
Um dos anjos do Halloween.
E, por coincidência, na Washington
Square. Quando um dia nos cruzamos,
casualmente. Eu voltava da Barnes &
Noble, ele da N.Y.U. onde estudava
Direito. Relembramos o desfile, a
conversa recaiu sobre Jerome e ele
desfiou a história, espontâneo e natural,
os olhos plácidos de cordeiro, fitandome sem piscar. Escutei-o em silêncio.
Despedi-me, estou com pressa, tenho um
compromisso. Nem sei se notou meu
desconcerto ou o desconcerto das águas
em que eu me debatia, esquecida de nadar.
Bye-bye. See you soon. Michael ficou no
meio da praça, penso que boquiaberto,
não olhei pra trás. Eu me fui na direção da
Fifth Avenue, enxergando nada que não
fosse o desespero íntimo. Olhos secos,
de lágrimas nem notícias. De vez em
quando apenas um anjo desnudo cruzava
minha retina, gargalhando. Apressava o
passo cego, meus pés e meu coração
conheciam o único caminho que naquela
hora eu deveria tomar. O caminho de
casa. Cheguei ao meu apartamento do
Chelsea, tremendo de frio, em pleno
verão.
A noite em claro, a noite clara como
esta sala clara.
O dia amanhecendo. O dia da
confrontação.
Manhã nada indecisa. Confrontei-o.
Jerome me olhou como se não
soubesse do que eu estava falando.
Escutou em silêncio, mão no queixo,
sereno. Quando terminei, um sorriso
brando brotava em seus lábios sensuais.
Aquele tipo de sorriso complacente, misto
de ironia e candura de quem se coloca
numa posição superior em qualquer
controvérsia. Segurou minhas mãos,
beijou-as, você está equivocada, meu
amor. Michael estaria mentindo? Não
exatamente. Porque é assim que ele
desenvolve seu raciocínio para compor
minha história. Trabalhando com dados
imaginários, constrói uma fábula que
45
pensa corresponder à realidade dos fatos. E, de tanto recontá-la, angariou
uma legião de adeptos que acreditam na veracidade da narrativa. A repetição
alegórica é um mantra poderoso. Se você perguntar a qualquer um dos meus
amigos, eles vão confirmar a palavra de Michael. Todos eles me vêem sob
a mesma ótica. Acontece que não participo desse enredo criado à minha
revelia. Sou construtor da minha própria fábula. Posiciono-me no mundo da
maneira que desejo me ver e agir e sonhar. Sinto-me livre para criar e
transformar a trajetória do meu destino. O que lhe contei é a minha verdade.
Que é a única. Porque somente eu, a semente-matriz da fábula, pode
conhecê-la. O resto não passa de projeção alheia.
Assim ele se defendeu. Poeticamente.
Ambiguamente. Dentro da sua estranha filosofia, olhando-me altivo.
Belo e consistente...
Não fosse o telefonema de Geraldine, eu estaria até hoje, quem sabe?
Naquele estado indefinido, suspensa entre a sedução de uma verdade
inventada e a realidade conhecida por todos os conhecidos de Jerome.
Porque eu não tratei de investigar nada. Não sei se por falta de ânimo ou de
coragem. Talvez não quisesse encarar as asperezas do avesso da fábula.
Talvez porque quisesse prolongar o quanto possível uma situação que,
embora eu suspeitasse fictícia, proporcionava-me tanta felicidade. Recolhime. Aliás, recolhemo-nos. No refúgio de nossa privacidade, isolados.
Paredes de aço, à prova de fogo, raio, bala, intrigas. Ali estaríamos, segundo
Jerome, a salvo da projeção alheia.
Estratégia mais do que ingênua, fugaz.
O telefonema de Geraldine Jordan conseguiu abrir crateras na superfície
da pseudo fortaleza. Com uma facilidade de estarrecer. Caiu como uma
granada. Que não chegou a explodir porque a intenção era apenas me
prevenir do perigo. Largue o meu homem senão... Seu homem? Aí ouvi o
relato completo do caso de amor deles, que já durava três anos. Desta vez eu
compreendi.
A mensagem era clara como a sala clara.
Onde não cabe mais o verbo ressonar.
O gato acorda, espreguiça-se, arregala os olhos amarelos, contempla seu
reflexo na vidraça, assusta-se. Salta entre as poltronas, pêlo ouriçado, atento.
Enrosca-se na cortina, espreita o “outro”, no qual não se reconhece. As
orelhas, par de antenas sensíveis, a captar o possível inimigo, retesadas.
Vigilância e astúcia. Imóvel a mirar a imagem daquele que nunca lhe foi
mostrado como sendo ele—o gato pardo que em si não percebe. Como se
precaver do choque da projeção de si mesmo? Nem os humanos.
Cena pré-fabricada. Escape que engendro pra cortar o fio do que ainda
me conecta a um estado eletrizante. Do qual eu não soube e nem quis escapar
no instante em que reconheci a necessidade do pulo. Como posso antecipar
os movimentos e reações do felino alerta, se a eles me desassemelho na
lassidão e destino?
Se ainda continuo na praia quase deserta, desguarnecida? Ah, os vôos
da imaginação... A gaivota que vai sumindo no horizonte me lembra o anjo
de outrora. Qual será seu disfarce no próximo Halloween? Uma ventania
sopra inesperadamente, o céu se turva, parece que vai chover. Na praia, o
vento em redemunhos, assovia sons estridentes. Ao longe, entre névoas de
areia, vêm surgindo vultos indistintos que aos poucos vão adquirindo formas
e movimentos. São os vampiros, freiras, garçonetes, demônios, palhaços,
anjos, príncipes, pierrôs, arlequins da Washington Square, dançando
frenéticos. Cantam, gritam, gargalham, loucos de alegria, como na noite
antiga em que participei do desfile. A atmosfera é igual na aparência e
sortilégio. Onde está o grupo de feiticeiras? De repente, no meio da multidão
delirante, uma mulher de negro, cara verde, chapéu pontudo, me acena.
Estremeço. Tenho a sensação de estar diante dum imenso espelho observando
meu reflexo vivo que continua a atuar na outra margem do tempo. Preciso
desfazer a conexão, se quero alcançar a serenidade. Desvio o olhar para o
vaivém das ondas, o céu escuro, a praia quase deserta. A chuva começa a cair.
Levanto-me do banco, pego a bolsa e o livro que não li, vou me embora do
passado.
Um barco se solta do cais.
As amarras se dissolvem entre seixos e algas.
46
I Wonder
Where Are
You
How to find what you are not looking
for? It’s scary. Chimeras, was it a bar’s
name or something I nurtured inside
myself?
TEREZA ALBUES
Era uma tarde, nem morna, nem púrpura.
Devassa. Pela fresta da janela a luz baça entrava
e saía com uma intimidade de clientes em cabarés
baratos. Nenhuma senha, contrasenha, reservas
antecipadas. Os gestos aconteciam e se sucediam
com uma libertinagem assombrosa. Transeuntes
desocupados ou empenhados em alguma tarefa
tardia ou escusa, ou mesmo obtusa, avançavam
sem pudor, nas entrelinhas do desejo. Nas
calçadas movimentadas, pernas, calças, saias,
sapatos baixos, altos, sandálias, mocassins, tênis,
tamancos, botas abafadas, ousadas, de doer.
Nos olhos de verniz e no baque surdo do
calcanhar. No andar suado, excitado, o resfolegar
das têmporas, narinas abertas, ouvidos moucos,
zunidos abstratos. Quantos sobressaltos! Quanta
falta de senso, contra-senso, contraponto. Na
esquina da rua Augusta, nem tão astuta quanto
quer parecer, a moça ausculta. Vem do interior,
ausculta. O tempo, nem tanto. O tampo do
esgoto aberto, detritos escorrendo vadios,
gosmentos. No ar o odor pestilento, na cara a
dor macilenta. Nos ônibus e táxis lotados, um
sinal de que a vida se comprime. Como o espaço
que divide com outras moças esperançosas.
Não há vaga. Nem nos empregos nem no coração
de alguém nem na cidade caótica nem nas sarjetas
escorregadias. O disponível é um ponto que não
se alcança. Nem por acaso. O ocaso talvez.
Dependendo do ponto em que se encontra. O sol
se põe à distância. As luzes em breve vão se
acender. Acenos da vida noturna. Outra face do
cotidiano. Outra perspectiva do humano. Em
busca de si mesmo, ou do deus no qual não
acredita. A noite começa a cair. A cortina desce.
De seda transparente e cinza, desce. Afaga os
dissabores, entrava humores, ameniza dores
profundas. Ungüento. Reavivam-se as
esperanças. Quem sabe esta noite. Na avenida
movimentada, encontrarei o que procuro. Mas
se nem sei o que procuro. Como encontrar o que
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
não se busca? Assusta. Quimeras, era o nome do bar ou o
que eu embalava dentro de mim, como uma canção que
nem era de ninar, mas que tinha uma entonação de rede
balançando, num rancho de palha de minha infância? Ah,
se eu disesse isso para as colegas paulistas…Tão longe da
realidade delas, tão próximo da minha história, tão distante
do meu presente…O que nos colocaria numa igualdade
sem igual. Quer contradição maior? Em plena São Paulo
das garoas decantadas, quem se assombra? O cinzento da
cidade é dúbio, como dúbia é nossa estadia neste planeta.
Caio Fernando Abreu que o diga. Onde quer que ele
esteja. E quem sabe me inspira neste momento? Comecei
a escrever um conto, depois virou crônica, depois virou o
que virou, nada. Ou seja, nenhum gênero específico. Mas
quem precisa se especificar? Afora os americanos do
norte, que dizem na cara do latino estupefato: Be specific!—porque não conseguem lidar com a obra aberta da
vida—afora eles, não é Caio? Quem precisa de? Ora,
direis, vamos ouvir besteiras. Estrangeiras ou caseiras. E
a noite cai, sem alternativas outras que não essa. As leis da
natureza também tendem a ser específicas. E a nossa
emoção e necessidades imediatas que se acomodem ao
noturno. O tom do quadro se altera por conta e risco. O
sombreado entra no cenário à nossa revelia. E a garota que
pensa ser vivida, entra no redemoinho da cidade. Corpo e
alma. Entrega-se às vibrações do irresistível, previsível
até certo ponto. Perambulará pela noite sem destino. Pelos
bares e inferninhos, vinhos, vodkas, cigarros. Marlboro,
Camel, Hollywood. O mundo é vasto. De incongruências,
amores, traições, rancores, boas trepadas, dores de cotovelo
e boleros e melodramas e sacanagens e beberagens infindas.
Papos moles, soltos, tensos, banais, pseudo-intelectuais,
deitando falação, aumentando a poluição do ar. Ar
enfumaçado. Garoa virando chuva. Vento gelando
esperanças. Porres à vista. Na esquina, mendigos pedem
esmola para a cachaça. Outros apenas pra sobreviver.
Alguns nem dizem pra quê. A mão estendida, o olhar
vago, a expressão empedrada de esfinge tropical. Um
acordeão antigo murmura Astor Piazzola, a música passa
despercebida. À tragédia dos tangos se sobrepõe a miséria
concreta de todo o dia. O som se mistura a outros restos de
melodias e se perde pela noite anônima. Um travesti
passeia e se exibe pela avenida, ponta a ponta, fuma o
último cigarro, gesticula, ninguém parece percebê-lo. O
tempo urge, a vida exige, a fome não espera, o aluguel
atrasado, o telefone cortado, queixar-se a quem? Ao
bispo, é piada caduca. O travesti, conhecido como Liana,
redobra nos requebros, exagera o batido do salto das botas
nas calçadas frias. Ressonâncias apelativas, no exercício
do velho ofício. Nenhuma artimanha surte efeito. Ódio
acumulado. Desgraça de profissão. Pelos becos o negrume,
estrume, picadeiro de circo pobre, desmontado às pressas,
a trupe aboletada nos caminhões, à deriva da sorte. Há um
clima ambíguo de luz e dor e sombras e solidão e gritos e
risos e um leve tremor de terra insone. Exausta, Liana está
a ponto de desistir. Na última tentativa, um carro pára, ela
entra, o rádio está tocando Vida Breve de Cazuza. O
homem pergunta, gosta da música? Adoro. Pois eu odeio,
rosna o homem. Meia-idade, terno e gravata, careca.
Desliga o rádio. Pisa fundo no acelerador. O perigo se
anuncia na noite. Nem morna, nem devassa. Púrpura.
Liana apalpa a navalha na bolsa, as longas unhas pintadas
de vermelho-cintilante. O mesmo tom do seu baton
Revelon.
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
The Cicadas’
Island
The Cicadas’ Island belonged to the cicadas. This
undesirable legion that plagued the island every year;
a legions with endless powers. Humans lived under
their yoke.
TEREZA ALBUES
O silêncio da ilha, ao escurecer, não é cortado abruptamente.
Quase imperceptível, o som vem surgindo como um leve sussuro
dos galhos de árvores, ao balanço do vento morno. Não é o
volume do som; é o prenúncio do tempo de duração, que traz
arrepios. A sensação de impotência. Nada vai estancar a sinfonia
obssessiva; em breve o ar será tomado pelos estribilhos irritantes;
o ar e as ruas, o corpo, o ouvido, a mente, a vida dos habitantes
da ilha. A sinfonia começa com acordes delicados, em diversos
pontos; a desconexão das notas dá a falsa idéia de que tudo não
passa de ruídos isolados; ruídos de inofensivos insetos espalhados
pela folhagem. O verde da ilha é abundante, espesso, adocicado.
Natural que atraia inúmeros e variados espécimes. Seria natural,
não fossem os espécimes, da mesma família. São. Nesta hora. E
parecem estar unidos por um minúsculo eletrodo localizado no
extremo das suas antenas sensíveis. Que ao primeiro sinal, aciona
um movimento sincrônico, comandado por maestros invisíveis;
a música se espalha como ondas mansas pela areia macia; cresce
e se transforma em vagas aflitas, os prováveis náufragos que se
acautelem. Não se sabe se por instinto, ou se governadas por uma
inteligência superior, as cigarras são duma disciplina de fazer
inveja a muitos monges em anos de clausura. Com precisão e
cadência, assestam as baterias sonoras, como poucas academias
militares saberiam precisar. A cronometria da orquestra é
impecável. Nenhuma falha ou intervalo ocioso; conspiração de
Primeiro Mundo. Já é noite. Ninguém dorme. O zumbido estridente
pretende continuar ininterrupto até de madrugada. Tortura chinesa,
na repetição da melodia, para os homens. Japonesa, pelo arakiri
vocal, para as cigarras. Muitas amanhecerão mortas. Nas calçadas,
seus corpos expostos ao sol; cinzentos, verde-escuros, cascudos,
horrendos; os corpos; carregados ou não pelas formigas, varridos
pelos empregados da limpeza pública, pelas donas de casa,
alarmadas com a quantidade. Outros continuam grudados nas
árvores; o pulmão seco, patas secas, asas encolhidas. Alguns
abraçados ou agarrados às costas dos outros. Morreram copulando.
47
Orgasmo mortal, o das cigarras. Extinguem-se du-ran-te, o que quer que
estejam fazendo; o importante é não parar
de exercitar as membranas musicais. À
estranha compulsão, nada se interpõe. A
forma de morrer parece obedecer a um
páthos inevitável. Já nascem sabendo
como vão terminar. Os machos, especialmente, que trazem, de nascença, uma
bolsa musical no baixo ventre. Aceitam o
destino trágico e a eles se entregam com
a volúpia de heróis gregos. Nem todos.
Ouvi dizer que num certo pomar italiano,
várias cigarras se recusaram a entrar na
sinfonia; fizeram greve de voz, protestaram. Foram cercadas e golpeadas na
garganta por um esquadrão de machos
enfurecidos; minutos depois os assassinos, lambendo as patas, se juntaram à
maioria e foram morrer de tanto cantar.
Conforme o costume herdado dos
ancestrais ou a sina atávica, sem qualquer
explanação lógica.
Uma única cigarra escapou ao massacre da Ilha de Capri. E veio pousar na Ilha
que ela não sabia se chamar, das Cigarras.
Pousou, peito arfante, o vôo longo,
cansativo; mas os pulmões resistiram bem
à travessia dos mares; os pulmões das
cigarras são possantes; o que as matam,
já se sabe, é a compulsão do canto. E
Hunno, como ficou conhecida a cigarra
exilada, tinha vontade férrea e determinação de propósitos. Morreria sim,
um dia; mas de morte natural; esquecendo-se que, entre as cigarras, a morte
natural era exatamente aquela da qual
fugia. O fim comum dos seres de sua
espécie.
Mas Hunno não era uma cigarra
comum.
Por isso a rebelião, que culminou em
fuga e exílio, o que lhe daria direito a
asilo político, se humana fosse, a figura
do fugitivo. Perseguido e ameaçado de
morte no seu país, tinha todo o direito de
invocar a proteção de um país estrangeiro.
Tinha. Só que, a ilha em que pousou,
inadvertidamente, não pertencia a
nenhum país democrático, que respeita
os direitos humanos, muito menos o
direito de cigarras rebeldes, que têm a
ousadia de ir contra a tradição secular
dos Cicadídeos. A Ilha das Cigarras,
pertencia às cigarras. Essa legião indesejável que infestava a ilha, anualmente;
uma legião com poderes ilimitados. Os
humanos viviam sob o seu jugo. Quanto
ao silêncio noturno. Um jugo passageiro,
como a vida das cigarras. No verão,
apenas, é verdade, mas de domínio
absoluto. O pesadelo daquele som
esganiçado, constantemente a ferir os
ouvidos dos moradores, seria capaz de
desafiar a paciência milenar dos monges
48
do Tibet. E Hunno chegou, exausto,
desnorteado, em pleno verão; e pousou,
aliviado, na Ilha que não sabia ser, das
Cigarras. Era.
E a patrulha ideológica, que viceja
às claras ou às sombras
também nas sociedades
animais
ou
vegetais,
farejaria a pista.
E em breve marcharia à sua
procura.
Uma cigarra expatriada, com idéias
revolucionárias, poderia representar uma
grave ameaça à Ordem e à Moral daquela
comunidade. Desconheciam o treinamento de Hunno, mas presumiam que deveria
ter tido mentores excepcionais de calibre
internacional. Sabe-se lá de que táticas
dispunha o subversivo? Tinha de ser
eliminado antes que se infiltrasse entre as
pacatas cigarras locais e as incitasse à
desobediência. Morrer cantando é nosso
lema, glória e tradição! bradaram os
zelosos guardiões. E o Maestro (ou qual
fosse o codinome do líder dos Cicadídeos), ordenou a caçada e extermínio
do vil traidor. Tarde demais. O ISRUCC
(Inteligência Secreta do Reino Unido das
Cigarras Conservadoras) informou que
em 48 horas o mal havia se alastrado,
muitas cigarras mostravam sinais
inequívocos de contágio. Diante do
quadro alarmante, decidiram mudar o
esquema da Operação Caçada. A ordem
inicial foi revogada, por unanimidade.
E a falange alada, partiu com a missão
de trazer Hunno - VIVO!
Politicamente, o assassinato não seria
a melhor solução. Segundo os informantes, a notícia de sua chegada e da atuação
no levante de Capri, já havia se espalhado
pela Ilha inteira; formavam-se comitês
de apoio, assembléias populares, crescia
o número de simpatizantes; àquela altura,
transformá-lo em mártir, seria um erro de
estratégia. O plano era prendê-lo e obrigálo a cantar até morrer, como qualquer
cigarra comum.
Mas Hunno não era uma cigarra
comum.
Considerava ignóbil procurar um fim
que não desejava. Não acreditava em
destino cego e se recusava a participar
dum ritual que via claramente como
suicídio em massa, semelhante à tragédia
liderada por Jim Jones, nas Guianas. Não
acreditava, não estava disposto, e não
executaria a performance exigida por
uma lei absurda. Fosse ela da Natureza,
de Deus, ou dos Homens. Falou grosso,
batendo as patinhas na areia molhada
pela baba de seus algozes. Decidiram
executá-lo ali mesmo, na praia, em plena
manhã de sol. O despudor dos tiranos.
Também
não
havia
testemunhas...Moscas, mosquitos,
caranguejos vadios, não contavam. Nem
perceberam que do alto das dunas, um
pintor solitário acompanhava a cena; em
rápidos movimentos, traços firmes,
passou para a tela o instante da execução.
Tendo perpetuado o tempo e a ação na
obra, desmontou o cavalete, enfiou tintas
e pincéis na sacola de couro, saiu
apressado. Carregando o quadro como se
fosse um estandarte sagrado, atravessou
a ilha, solene. Enquanto isso os carrascos
lançavam à maré alta o corpo daquele
que eles não desejavam, fosse mártir. A
seguir, partiram em marcha lenta,
zumbindo em coro - Que os tubarões
devorem, o proscrito! Que os tubarões
devorem, o proscrito! Não devoraram.
A maré baixou, o corpo de Hunno
reapareceu,
todo prateado,
e foi visto por todas as cigarras da
Ilha.
Muitas guardaram silêncio naquela
noite.
In the original, these short stories
were called “A Ilha das Cigarras,” “A
Fábula do Anjo,”and “Por onde
andarás?”
Tereza Albues is a Brazilian writer
from Mato Grosso who has lived in New
York since 1983. She has four novels
published in Brazil: Pedra Canga
(Philobiblion, 1987) Chapada da Palma
Roxa (Atheneu Cultura, 1991), A
Travesssia dos Sempre Vivos (UFMT,
1993), O Berro do Cordeiro em Nova
York (Civilização Brasileira, 1995). She
has also a novel published in France - A
Dança do Jaguar (Editions 00h00.com,
2000) and a novel published in the
United States - Pedra Canga (Green
Integer, 2001, trans. by Clifford
E.Landers). In 1999 the author was one
of five winners of Guimarães Rosa Short
Story Competition, sponsored by Radio
France Internationale, Paris, with her
short story A Bouquet of Tongues. She
can be reached at [email protected]
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
deprived of sex and love, they rebel and start
a fierce confrontation with their mother. Text
by Federico Garcia Lorca, directed by Ione
de Medeiros, with Grupo Oficcina
Multimédia.
Como Se Fazia um Deputado (How We
Used to Make a Representative). Comedy of
costumes. In 19th Century Rio, two politicians decide to fabricate a candidate to win
the elections, using Henrique, a young lawyer, for that. Written by França Júnior and
directed by Felippe Correa, with Adilson
Pereira, Gildo Fontolan, Robson Stancov,
Patrícia Bispo and Sandra Nagy.
Uma Onda no Ar (A Wave in the Air)—
Brazil/2002—It seems like a war in the big
favela (shantytown). The police start to go up
the hill while a pirate radio station tells the
population how to react. It’s the radio station
that the police are looking for. Directed by
Helvécio Ratton, with Alexandre Moreno,
Adolfo Moura, Babu Santana, Benjamim
Abras, Priscila Dias, Edyr Duqui.
B ooks
best sellers
Movies
JUST-RELEASED OR RE-RELEASED
Plays
RIO
Buda (Buddha)—Comedy. Decided to get a
man she loves, a young woman appeals to
religion. Monologue by Clarice Niskier. Directed by Domingos Oliveira, with Clarice
Niskier.
Comemorando? (Celebrating?)—A guest is
kidnapped and tortured during a party. None
of the guests, however, does anything to stop
the violence. Written and directed by Denise
Weinberg with actors just graduated from
CAL (Casa de Artes de Laranjeiras).
O Homem sem Sentidos (No-Senses Man)—
A man chooses to go into complete isolation
and finds a world full of questions and conflicts. Written by Patrícia Mess, directed by
Elisa Barbato, with André Junqueira.
Nervos de Deus (Nerves of God)—Based on
German judge Daniel Paul Schreber’s Memoirs of My Nervous Illness. Sigmund Freud,
who read the book, was inspired by it to
include paranoia as one of the psychic manifestations psychoanalysis deals with. Written and directed by Eugênia Thereza de
Andrade, with Cássio Brasil, Carlos Alberto
Escher, Jorge Luiz Alves, and Maíra de
Andrade.
SÃO PAULO
Não Me Contes Verdades (Don’t Tell Me
Truths)—Comedy. A group of people are
shown talking while waiting to be seen by a
doctor in a free medical clinic. Written by
Tácito Rocha, directed by Luiz Serra and
Marcus Cardelíquio, with Ênio Gonçalves,
José Ferro, Vânia Barboni, and Lourdes de
Moraes.
O Homem do Sobretudo Escuro (The Man
on the Dark Overcoat)—Drama. Based on
several short stories by Agatha Christie. A
young couple, which owns a boarding house
in England, receives the visit of the police
while waiting for some guests. Directed by
Silvio Tadeu and Iná Carvalho, with Tereza
Penteado, Silvio Bisterso, and André Ruffo.
A Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of
Bernarda Alba)—Drama. Widow locks her
five young daughters for eight years, but,
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE MOVIES:
Mr. Deeds (A Herança de Mr. Deeds), Bourne
Identity (A Identidade Bourne), Mothman
Prophecies (A Última Profecia), The
Powerpuff Girls (As Meninas Superpoderosas
- O Filme), The Country Bears (Beary e os
Ursos Caipiras), My Big Fat Greek Wedding
(Casamento Grego), Windtalkers (Códigos
de Guerra), Road to Perdition (Estrada para
a Perdição), Changing Lanes (Fora de
Controle), Spiderman (Homem-Aranha), Lilo
& Stitch (Lilo & Stitch), Snow Dogs (Neve
pra Cachorro), People I Know (O Articulador), The Good Girl (Por um Sentido na
Vida), Possession (Possessão), Reign of
Fire (Reino de Fogo), Scooby-Doo (ScoobyDoo), Signs (Sinais), Spirit: Stallion of The
Cimarron (Spirit - O Corcel Indomável)
Adágio ao Sol (Adage to the Sun)—Brazil/
1996—A couple in the early 1930s try to
maintain a difficult relationship made even
harder by the arrival of a young man. The
background is the São Paulo Revolution of
1932. Directed by Xavier de Oliveira, with
Cláudio Marzo, Rossana Ghessa, Edwin
Luisi..
Paixão de Jacobina (Jacobina’s Passion)—
Brazil/2002—Based on Videiras de Cristal
(Crystal Vines) a book by Luiz Antonio de
Assis Brasil. Jacobina is a young healer who
preaches that people can save their souls by
searching for equality and happiness. She
foresees that the world will be consumed by
purifying flames. Directed by Fábio Barreto,
with Letícia Spiller, Thiago Lacerda,
Alexandre Paternost, Antonio Calloni, and
Caco Ciocler.
Cidade de Deus (City of God)—Brazil/
2002—Based on Paulo Lins’s novel of same
name. An inside picture of Rio’s favela Cidade
de Deus. How Dadinho e Buscapé grow up in
world of drugs and crime. Directed by
Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, with
unknown actors, including Alexandre
Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Seu
Jorge, Matheus Nachtergaele, and Phellipe
Haagensen.
Abril Despedaçado (Broken April, Behind
the Sun in the English Version)—BrazilSwitzerland-France/2001—Based on Albanian author Ismail Kadaré’s book Broken
April. In the Brazilian Northeast, following a
family tradition, a young man is compelled to
avenge his brother’s murder. The youngster,
however, decides to question this blood code.
Directed by Walter Salles, with Rodrigo
Santoro, José Dumont, and Rita Assemany.
FICTION
1. A Intimação (Rocco) John Grisham (1 –
9)
2. As Mentiras Que os Homens Contam
(Objetiva) Luis Fernando Verissimo (4 –94)
3. Harry Potter e a Câmara Secreta (Rocco)
J.K. Rowling (0 – 104)
4. Harry Potter e o Cálice de Fogo (Rocco)
J.K. Rowling (5 – 65)
5. Harry Potter e o Prisioneiro de Azkaban
(Rocco) J.K. Rowling (0 - 85)
6. Artemis Fowl, uma Aventura no Ártico
(Record) Eoin Colfer (6 – 3)
7. Todas as Histórias do Analista de Bagé
(Objetiva) Luis Fernando Verissimo (2 - 4)
8. Harry Potter e a Pedra Filosofal (Rocco)
J.K. Rowling (0 - 118)
9. Os Bórgias (Record) Mario Puzo (9 – 10)
10. Lágrimas na Lua – Trilogia do Coração
2 (Bertrand Brasil) Nora Roberts (3 – 1)
NONFICTION
1. Quem Mexeu no Meu Queijo? (Record)
Spencer Johnson (1 – 96)]
2. O Sentido da Vida (Sextante) Bradley
Trevor Greive (2 – 13)
3. A Casa da Mãe Joana (Campus) Reinaldo
Pimenta (4 – 13)
4. Corinthians: É Preto no Branco (DBA)
Washington Olivetto e Nirlando Beirão (5 –
1)
5. A Semente da Vitória (Senac) Nuno Cobra (7 – 70)
6. Cidade de Deus (Companhia das Letras)
Paulo Lins (3 – 4)
7. Você É Insubstituível (Sextante) Augusto
Jorge Cury (9 - 15)
8. Estação Carandiru (Cia. das Letras)
Drauzio Varella (6 – 137)
9. Um Dia Daqueles (Sextante) Bradley
Trevor Greive (8 – 76)
10. A Arte da Felicidade (Martins Fontes)
Dalai Lama (0 - 104)
The first number inside the parentheses
tells the position the book was in the previous
week. The second number indicates for how
many weeks the book is in the list.
According to Isto É Gente - Oct 28, 2002
www.istoegente.com.br
49
T A B L E T S
For Ad, call (323) 255-8062 or E-mail: [email protected]
50
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
FEIRA LIVRE
OPEN MARKET
Enterprises, Suite 16 6751 Macon Road, Columbus, GA 31907 USA - Phone (706) 569-5494
Legal Aid
Serviços Legais, consultas sem limite, cartas,
chamadas e outros benefícios incluídos, para
indivíduos somente $26 por mês. Também oferece
proteção para famílias ou negócios pequenos.
(909) 392-5766 ou [email protected] [196]
Matchmaking
brazzil-ADS (323) 255-8062
Books
WorldTech announces two new pocket guides:
(1) Rio de Janeiro; (2) Salvador, Bahia. For information [email protected] [202]
Business Opportunity
Oportunidade! Precisam-se Líderes! Empresa
internacional de marketing em expansão no Brasil,
procura candidatos experientes em marketing,
com espírito de liderança e network. Importante
saber usar computador e ter vontade de fazer sua
independência financeira! Résumé Fax (775) 2645803 [197]
Wanted: Marketing Reps for Pre-Paid Legal
Services, Inc., a 30-year-old NYSE traded company. Commission deposited daily. No experience required. Call (909) 392-5766 [196]
Classes
Conversational Brazilian Portuguese Method
- “I tried several methods to learn BRAZILIAN
PORTUGUESE, but when I started lessons with
NILSON, I knew immediately that I’d found the
best one. And in just a few months, I was able to
communicate on a one-on-one basis.” Individual,
Total Immersion, Corporate Group and SemiPrivate. Phone (310) 379-0738 www.brazilianportugueselessons.com [199]
PORTUGUESE CLASSES - Brazilian teacher.
Fast, easy, efficient and pleasant way to learn
Portuguese. (949) 240-8178 [196]
Finances
Income tax, bookkeeping services. Certified tax
preparer experienced and reasonable. Call Cintia
Bové (415) 203-6464. Falo Português, Español.
[192]
Job Offered
Wanted: Female exotic dancers 18-29 needed
for 4 months in Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia
USA gentlemen's clubs. No experience necessary. We provide roundtrip ticket from São PauloAtlanta, housing, and local transportation. Earn
$4,000 or more U.S. dollars a month. If interested,
provide proof of age, 2 color swimsuit photos.
Email: [email protected] - Mail: Rising Star
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
Wanted: Men & Women 18-40 interested in
meeting Americans for relationships. New
website coming August 25th "American-Brazil
Dating Service" looking to put you on its website.
Send two color photos, your age, sexual preference (i.e. straight, bisexual, or gay), hobbies,
address, phone number, or email. Service fee of
$1.00 U.S. dollars only required($2.00 Real). Our
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[email protected] - Mail: Rising Star Enterprises, Suite 16 6751 Macon Road, Columbus,
GA 31907 USA - Phone (706) 569-5494
Free Personal Ad - Send bio-data, photos to:
Patrick Williams, ADC #84677, Box 3200-B, Buckeye, AZ, 85326, USA. All wellcome. [196]
Fire and Passion - Agência de Casamento para
Brasileiros e Estrangeiros, no ramo desde 1989.
Marriage Agency for Brazilians and Foreigners in
business since 1989. www.firepassion.com Email: [email protected] - Tel: 310-450-4586
[196]
Moving
Bassi WorldMovers Brazil - Mudanças,
encomendas, caixas para o Brazil. Contato: 718472-5843 - USA -- Contato: 55-11-4473-3137 Brazil -- Email: [email protected] [201]
I need share container to Brazil. 818-247-8027.
Some urgency. [198]
Music
TICKET TO BRASIL * Bossa Nova and Brazilian
Jazz group * www.tickettobrasil.com [203]
Learn to play Brazilian percussion. Videos for
sale. Visit us on www.bridgesto.com Demo and
free lesson on the website. [186]
Brazilian Music in its totality. Samba, bossa
nova, chorinho, baião, axé, and more. Merchant
Express (954) 785-2131
New Age
Psychic Readings by Dara. Angel’s cards. English, Portuguese, Spanish Tel. (310) 838-3189
[199]
Newspapers & Magazines
Jornais e revistas do Brasil. Recebemos jornais
diários e todas as principais revistas, incluindo
masculinas e femininas. Tel. (954) 785-2131
Personal
Man Seeks Woman
Bride Wanted - For a handsome, world traveled,
refined Black Canadian male 43, 5’ 8”, 150lbs,
Ph.D and financially very secure. Prefer lady 23 34, slim, highly educated, very pretty and sophisticated. Fluency in English, international exposure and willingness to relocate to Canada appreciated. Christian most preferred. Can relocate for
the right lady. Interested ladies should e:-mail
with photo to: [email protected] or
[email protected] [199]
Egyptian Lover, 5'8" tall, good personality,
seeks Brazilian girl, only 21+, friends first. (925)
609-9023. San Francisco Bay Area only. [189]
American male, 37, college educator, seeks
Brazilian lady for friendship/relationship, Los Angeles, CA area, Daniel 310-257-8940
[email protected] [187]
Elderly Black American seeks Brazilian lady 40
plus. Write Don Clifford, PO Box 512491, Los
Angeles, CA 90051-0491 [185]
Personal
Man Seeks Man
Irish-American guy, 46, tall, attractive, fun, seeks
Brazilian men for friendship, maybe more! Phone
Larry at 310-899-6075 [199]
Rental
Rent very nice house in beautiful state of Bahia.
Please see pictures and contact on site:
www.casananci.netfirms.com [195]
Translation and Interpretation
J. Henry Phillips, immigration court interpreter www.portugueseinterpreter.com - ATA accredited Portuguese translator: Fax: (512) 834-0070.
www.braziliantranslated.com [204]
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52
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Luso-Brazilian Books
(800) 727-LUSO
• Clubs & Associations
Brazilian Ch. of Com.
(212) 751-4691
Brazilian Com. Bureau
(212) 916-3200
Brazilian Trade Bur.
(212) 224-6280
• Consulate
Brazilian Gen. Cons.
(212) 757-3080
• Consulting
BBJ (Br. Bus. Junction)
(212) 768-1545
• Food & Products
Amazônia
(718) 204-1521
Coisa Nossa
(201) 578-2675
Merchant Express
(201) 589-5884
• Publications
The Brasilians
(212) 382-1630
Brazilian Voice
(201) 955-1137
Portugal-Brasil News
(212) 228-2958
www.verdeamarelo.net
(732) 906-8039
• Restaurants
Brasília
(212) 869-9200
Brazil 2000
(212) 877-7730
Brazilian Pavillion
(212) 758-8129
Cabana Carioca
(212) 581-8088
Indigo Blues
(212) 221-0033
S.O.B.
(212) 243-4940
Tapajós River
(201) 491-9196
Nativa Productions
(408) 287-9798
Kidoideira Productions
(415) 566-0427
• Food
Brazil Express
(415) 749-0524
Mercado Brasil
(415) 285-3520
• Instruction
Portuguese Lang. Serv.
(415) 587-4990
• Money Remittance
Brazil Exchange
(415) 346-2284
Brazil Express-Vigo
(415) 749-0524
Paulo Travel
(415) 863-2556
• Music
Barb Tour Service
(201) 313-0996
Odyssea Travel Service
(212) 826-3019
Célia Malheiros
(650) 738-2434
Fogo na Roupa
(510) 464-5999
Voz do Brazil
(415) 586-2276
• Auto
Emiliano Benevides
(415) 648-2441
• Clubs & Associations
Dr. Guilherme Salgado
(415) 832-6219
• Travel Agencies
San Diego
• Percussion
Car Mania Auto Repair
(619) 223-7748
• Physician
Clube Bras. San Diego
(619) 295-0842
Sunday Night Cl. Brazil
(619) 233-5979
• Printing
• Import/Export
Brazil Imports
(619) 234-3401
•Money Remittance
Vigo San Diego
(858) 488-8303
San Francisco
• Airlines
Varig
(209) 475-1269
• Attorney
Laura Basaloco-Lapo
(415) 288-6727
Manoel Faria
(510) 537-3533
• Auto
Nélson Auto Body
(415) 255-6717
Matts Auto Body
(415) 565-3560
• Beauty Sallon
Bibbo
(415) 421-BIBO
Carmen’s International
(415) 433-9441
Dalven
(415) 786-6375
Neyde’s
(415) 681-5355
M. C. Printing
(510) 268-8967
• Publications
Brasilbest
(415) 731-1458
Brazil Today
(510) 236-3688
• Restaur./Night Clubs
Café do Brasil
(415) 626-6432
Café Mardi Gras
(415) 864-6788
Canto do Brasil
(415) 626-8727
Clube Fusetti
(415) 459-6079
João’s Restaurant
(408) 244-1299
Mozzarela Di Bufala
(415) 346-9888
Nino's
(510) 845-9303
Terra Brazilis
(415) 863-5177
• Translation
Port. Lang. Services
(415) 587-4990
Raimundo Franco
(916) 443-3162
Roberto Lima
(415) 215-4990
• Travel Agencies
• Computer
Paulo’s Travel
(415) 863-2556
Rio Roma
(415) 921-3353
Santini Tours
(800) 769-9669
Tropical Travel
(510) 655-9904
Tucanos Travel
(415) 454-9961
• Consulate
• Airlines
• Clubs & Associations
Bay Area Brasilian Club
(415) 334-0106
Capoeira Abadá
(415) 284-6196
Capoeira Institute
(510) 655-8207
Micronet
(415) 665-1994
Brazilian Consulate
(415) 981-8170
• Dance Instruction
Aquarela
(510) 548-1310
Birds of Paradise
(415) 863-3651
Ginga Brasil
(510) 428-0698
Samba do Coração
(415) 826-2588
• Dental Care
Roberto Sales, DDS
(510) 451-8315
• Events Promotion
Eyes For Talent
(650) 595-2274
F. B. C. Events
(415) 334-0106
Washington DC
Transbrasil
(202) 775-9180
Varig
(202) 822-8277
• Banks
Banco do Brasil
(202) 857-0320
Banco do Est. de S. Paulo
(202) 682-1151
• Clubs & Associations
Braz. Am. Cult. Inst.
(202) 362-8334
Inst. of Brazil. Business
(202) 994-5205
• Embassy
Embaixada do Brasil
(202) 238-2700
• Restaurants
Amazônia Grill
(202) 537-0421
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
BRAZZIL - NOVEMBER 2002
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